Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Analysis of patrick henry speech
Patrick Henry's speech analysis
Patrick henry march 23 1775 speech rhetorical analysis
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Analysis of patrick henry speech
Who would not want to have their voice heard by so many people if it could change lives of everyone who is listening? Almost two centuries ago the people of United States were Christians, they wanted peace and had pride in the country. Hearing about someone who believed in God the same way they did made that person worthier to listen to. The way Patrick Henry connects to the colonists is by the analogies he uses and the motion he gives when he speaks. Henry wanted the people to do something and stand up for what they want. Pathos was the easiest way to get the colonists attention because Henry knew they were weak. He saw the fear in their eyes grow as he talked about being a slave or being free. With the situations, he uses he got under their
skin and they realized what they had to do. By saying “revert the storm”(Henry) they needed to stop all fighting, with war and he knows that it is the only thing they want. Connecting with the people is the only way to get them to listen to his arguments because they have too much pride to listen to someone who wants something different than what they want. Emotions were huge during this time, they can make anyone do things they never thought they would do in their life. Touching a person’s emotions is almost having power over them if they aren’t strong enough to control them. Henry knows that he can make their emotions grow by using negative words, loaded words and words that remind the colonists of their goals. The emotions and being able for him to connect to the colonists was the only way for his words to be heard. Henry’s technique of pathos is the most persuasive because he understands how the colonists feel and he knows the way to scare them into working for what they want for their future. His speech was given to convince the people to help them to know that they have someone that they trust and someone to look up to. with how he showed that he feels the same way they do towards the difficulties and the nation. Patrick Henrys speech “Give me liberty or give me death” was perhaps the most persuasive speech given because he knew what techniques would help him to get them stand with their brothers and work towards peace and liberty.
Henry uses logos to appeal the colonists. An example of this is, “Has Britain any enemy in this quarter of the world, to call for this accumulation of navies and armies… it is meant for us.” This appeals to the colonists because it logical, why else would Britain have their military over here? Henry make it seem like there is only one logical answer. Henry uses rhetorical
Henry’s speech to Virginia uses several tactics to get your attention; the stress at the time was overwhelming as the pressure from Britain to dissemble and succumb intensified. “It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfil the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country.” His intention behind involving God and religion
The first appeal that Henry uses in his speech is ethos which appeals to ethics. Evidence from the text is, “fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country” (lines 13-14). This shoes that God has credibility. It also shows that you need to respect God over Britain. The next piece of evidence that I found in the speech is whenever the text said, “…and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings” (lines 16-17). This is saying that you should respect God above man. That is two ways how Henry used the ethical appeal, ethos.
There are few speeches in the American history that compel us towards great acts of patriotism. Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia Provincial Convention of 1775 is a prime example of one of these great speeches. During the debates on whether or not to compromise with Great Britain, Patrick Henry proposed the idea to his fellow members of the First Continental Congress to declare war on Great Britain. A reason why the speech was so powerful was the rhetorical strategies of the diction of slavery, the appeal to God, and the appeal to logic, that he deftly employed.
In Florence Kelley's speech to the people attending the NAWSA convention, she uses emotional appeal to motivate her audience to convince their male counterparts to legalize voting for women, and also to persuade the males to help put an end to child labor.
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
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.
They did not like the conditions the British monarchy was treating them as a colony, so they decided that independence would be the best option. Patrick Henry’s disobedience and rebellious writings were entrenched by something much different. Patrick Henry being transcendentalist, wanted his mind to exceed culture and society. Accordingly, He believed that his ideas and his views were greater than the laws imposed by the government. Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine were both influenced by the conditions of their time period. Thoreau, living right before the revolution, was angered by actual events occurring all over the colonies.
Patrick Henry communicates the idea of love and agreement which brings to attention the love God has for the world and His purpose of integrating man to Himself, because of that devotion of love. To begin with, Mr. Henry initially could have stated that some ignored the problem with hope of it vanishing. However, He states “having eyes, see not and, having ears, hear not”. Jesus frequently said “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” To move on...
Henry excites fear by stating he is passionately ready to sacrifice for his country. This play towards pathos, or appealing to the audience’s emotions, is an effective way of trying to convince the House to go to war against Britain. This pathos, combined with the logic of Henry’s speech, makes for a convincing argument. Logically taking the House step by step from stating that because he has an outlook on their situation, he should express it to them, to stating his argument before the House, to saying that lacking freedom is worse than death, then taking it full circle pronouncing he would prefer to be “give[n] death” then to have his freedom taken away by the British.
Rhetorical Analysis: The Declaration of Independence. Our Declaration of Independence, was penned most notably by Thomas Jefferson in response to the atrocities committed by the British Crown against the citizens of the American Colonies. At the time of the drafting of The Declaration, Jefferson was widely known to be a successful practitioner of Law as a lawyer, and an eloquent writer. It is due to this, that although Jefferson was a member of a five-man committee charged with drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was tapped to be the main author. After enduring “a long train of abuses and usurpations” the colonists decided to declare themselves free of British rule (para 2).
Rather than a sense of patriotism, it is clear to the reader that Henry's goals seem a little different, he wants praise and adulation. "On the way to Washington, the regiment was fed and caressed for station after station until the youth beloved that he must be a hero."
As time progressed Henry also thought of the injustice in working and paying the wages he had earned to a master who had no entitlement to them whatsoever. In slavery he had been unable to question anything of his masters doing. He was unable to have rage, sadness, or even sickness, for he would be b...
“Give me liberty, or give me death.” Patrick Henry is forever noted in history for this famous line during the American Revolution. His contributions to liberty did not stop with the British, however. Patrick Henry was the leader of the Anti-Federalists in the early years of our country. The Anti-Federalists did not want a federal government system, where there is a strong central government, then smaller, state governments. Patrick Henry had his own ideas for a decentralized national government, which he added on to the Constitution during the ratification convention in Virginia.
“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience.” The time is 1775, and Patrick Henry is tasked with delivering a speech to the Virginia Convention to convince them to form a militia. He was a respected lawyer and was heavily opposed to Britain’s policies. Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” uses pathos to tell the colonists that they have no time to compromise with the British and that the British will show them no mercy. Henry’s usage of pathos helps instill fear into the colonists. “There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston!” (Henry 4). Henry says that if the colonists back down, they will become slaves