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Patrick henry's speech to the virginia convention persuasive appeals
The rise of the American revolution
The rise of the American revolution
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The best persuasive speaker of all time using pathos as his main attraction with the famous saying “Give me Liberty or Give me Death”. Patrick Henry was born May 29, 1736 and was born ambitious; doing a lot of things as a young child that made him the man he was. Life growing up was a trying time because of his many ambitions in his work field. Patrick tried a lot of professions growing up but failed at all of them miserably. Patrick Henry is the best speaker of all time because his appeal to emotion was so strongly considered and how he made the people listening to his speech listen in awe. The war against Britain had to be done because of all the horrible things that they have done. That was all Patrick Henry needed to persuade …show more content…
the Virginia Convention to go to war with the best military in the world! For the rights of the colonist, these colonists were not even considered anything military. Pathos was used in his speech to persuade the colonist to go to war with Britain; he used emotion of the British pushing them around and taxing them. Patrick Henry basically was demonizing the British for actions that personally are not even relevant at any point to the British oppressing the “Americans”. He appeals to emotion towards the audience that would stir anybody up to fight a war against the best military in the world at the time “Give me liberty or give me death”! (Pg. 104 PH) Patrick Henry “Give me liberty or give me death” quote was the most legendary quote in American history or maybe world history because of the magnitude of the situation the colonist were in, trying to split up with a country that buys most of the state’s goods and for America to not have military going against the best military in the world is absolute blasphemous!
The quote can make an audience fired up to do something they will probably regret much later. Another persuasive mastery Patrick Henry pulled to get the audience into that mindset on war was talking about all the incidents Britain has done to the colonist in the states, and how King George managed the states. The clever way Patrick Henry said it was “The war with Britain is inevitable” (Pg 105 PH) stating that the war cannot be avoided by any chance because the British already did so many things to start this rebellion. This quote is extremely effective because as a person in the Virginia Convention you are thinking about the Boston Massacre and the Stamp Act, and saying “yes we have to have liberty” or “I am tired of being oppressed”. Colonist must have felt mistreated and unimportant; they probably felt obligated to fight back. Patrick is a persuasive genius knowing that appealing to ones emotions has a cause and effect on how people feel about certain things. Also his tone was very sporadic and affectionate about his views. Patrick Henry is the legendary speaker because of how he can use
emotion and how he feels about situations effect on how the audience feels about it also. Pathos was a major part of his speech because it gave the audience his view on things and also you can feel his passion for what he believes in. This is totally evident in the quote “ I am an American” (Pg 104 PH)
Patrick Henry’s effective diction emphasizes how much the British had suppressed the colonists and that it was time to fight for their freedom. Henry displays this through his strong use of pathos, logos, and ethos. His rhetorical questions really appeal to the logic and ethics of the colonists and leaves the no choice but to join him and rebel.
In the “Speech at the Virginia Convention” Patrick Henry tries to persuade colonists to fight a war against the English; he uses several main rhetorical strategies such as; parallelism, metaphor, and rhetorical questions.
“Trust it not sir it will prove a snare to your feet”(Henry 102). In other words don’t trust the British owing to the fact in the end they will harm you. That was a quote from Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Virginia Convention during the mid 1700’s. The purpose of his speech was not to compromise with the British but to take up arms. Patrick Henry was a representative in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Mr. Henry enjoyed oratory which is a a religious society of priest for private worship. He also loved anything involving the law. Patrick Henry delivered the speech to the Virginia Convention using the compelling technique of pathos to convince the delegates to proceed to war with the British and fight for their country.
The 1770s proved to be a time of much chaos and debate. The thirteen colonies, which soon gained their independence, were in the midst of a conflict with Great Britain. The colonies were suffering from repeated injuries and usurpations inflicted upon them by the British. As a result of these inflictions, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry addressed these injustices, and proved to be very persuasive through providing reasoning and evidence that moved many colonists to believe that to reach contentment and peace the colonies had to rid themselves of British rule. Henry and Paine were successful in swaying their audience, not only because of the rhetorical strategies used, but also because they were passionate about the cause they were committed to.
At the Virginia convention in 1775 Patrick Henry spoke out anonymously about standing up to the British monarchy and gaining independence. His simple use of language and emotionally captivating passages inspired many to fight for a republic. Persuading the devout and loyal colonies to pull away from their mother country took courage.
Patrick Henry was known as “the Orator of Liberty” and created his name with his speeches. When colonists were divided in 1775, some were hoping to work it out but not Patrick Henry. He thought the only choice was to go to war with Great Britain. Henry uses ethos, pathos, and logos to show his clause for going to war with Britain.
He uses words like “chains” as symbols of America's ties with Great Britain in order to show the slave-like hold that Britain claims over America, which creates a sense of fear in the hearts of the members of the Congress. By saying “For my own part… a question of freedom or slavery” Patrick Henry frames the only outcome of their decision as either freedom, which would be the product by going to war against the British, or slavery and subjugation, which would be the result of reconciliation and obedience. He implores the Congress to not ignore the gravity of the situation at hand of how “war and subjugation” are Great Britain's true intentions.
Throughout the speech Patrick Henry uses parallelism to acquire the support from the Americans to join the war effort. He believes that they have done the best of their ability to prevent the war and explains that "We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne." He uses this to describe the effort that was used to prevent the war, but which in the end failed. He says that “there is no longer any room for hope” and truly believes that America has done all it could to be in peace with the British. He proceeded to say that “Our petitions have been slighted; our
He addressed the cruel taxes and policies that have been placed upon the American people. He also, speaks of the tiring efforts of the colonies to overcome the impossible British policies. Henry begins his statement with the numerous actions taken by people in response to the British approach to limit their freedom. Writing in the statement, Henry complains that many actions have been taken in an effort to achieve freedom but have failed. Henry himself writes, “In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation?”. In making this comment Henry urges the British to be prepared for them. After overcoming the stamp act , Henry urges the British to be ready for revolution if freedom is not given. This exactly, Henry points out, if basic privileges are not given to men and women, there will be a war. Henry himself writes. “give me liberty, or give me death!”. Basically, Henry is warning that if freedom is not given, he is willing to fight until it is. Patrick Henry’s statement is crucial to the American cause in the War for Independence. He led the fight against the stamp act, after being elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765. Also, he proposed his argument for going to war was in an effort to live as free men and fight. His speech inspired men to join the cause and fight for
The 1770s proved to be a time of much chaos and debate. The thirteen colonies, which soon gained their independence, were in the midst of a conflict with Great Britain. The colonies were suffering from repeated injuries and usurpations inflicted upon them by the British. As a result of these inflictions, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry addressed these injustices, and proved to be very persuasive through providing reasoning and evidence that moved many colonists to believe that to reach contentment and peace the colonies had to rid themselves of British rule. These men's works were very effective, not only because of the rhetorical devices used, but also because Paine and Henry were passionate about the cause they were committed to.
In a time full of chaos, desperation, and dissenting opinions, two definitive authors, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry, led the way toward the American Revolution. Both men demanded action of their separate audiences. Paine wrote to inspire the commoners to fight while Henry spoke extemporaneously to compel the states’ delegates to create an army. Despite the differences between the two, both had very similar arguments which relied heavily upon God, abstract language, and ethos. In the end, both men were able to inspire their audiences and capture the approval and support of the masses. If not for these two highly influential and demanding men, the America that we know today might not exist.
America's war with Britain seemed inevitable although the Americans did everything they decently could to avoid it, although there seemed to be endless provocation by Britain, for example in 1807 when a British frigate, the leopard opened fire on an American frigate the Chesapeake. The choice before America, Jefferson the former president and his successor Madison agreed was war or submission - to fight or to undo one of the main achievements of the revolution and accept total defeat in international affairs to England. As John Quincy Adams put it "It was not a matter of dollars and cents, no alternative was left but war or the abandonment of our right as an independent nation" The offences committed against the United States were the major provocation's for the war, reasons other then vindication can be regarded as rationalisation. There was an obvious anger for what British had done to America and many Americans merely wanted revenge but the war was fought for much more then that.
Patrick Henry attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on their patriotism and pride as leaders of colonial America. Throughout his speech, Henry justifies his argument for going to war, by logically explaining himself to the leaders of the American colonies. Obviously “men often see the same subject in different light.” Therefore, Patrick Henry uses this in a step-by-step explanation of why he believes that the colonies should join together in revolt. He states, because men have different views, he wishes to express his own, without “be[ing] disrespectful,” to anyone in the House.
Henry starts his case by asking questions regarding the military presence in the colonies. Henry asks, “Can you assign any other possible motive for it?” referring to why British are militarizing in the colonies. Henry fears a war is imminent and uses emotional language to emphasize the importance of the British soldiers. Henry reasons his case by asking rhetorical questions concerning the British occupation. After asking all these questions Henry and his audience soon come to realize the only viable answer to many of the questions is war. Henry knows the colonists must act now for if not now than when.
In conclusion when addressing an audience it is important to draw upon the audiences interests and to establish credibility in the subject being presented. In Henry’s case his speech which was more serious which had been war, had to be handled with care and acknowledgement of the audiences feelings. To take something away from this speech would be to have a dream and present it to people in the same way you believe in it, this worked a lot better rather than speaking about a plan and presenting it people. For if you tell people a plan they are not invested in you, where as they would possibly be more invested if you told them your dream and knowledge as you develop your credibility with them.