Patrick Henry's Call for Colonial Resistance

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In the spring of 1775 Patrick Henry, a congressional delegate of Virginia, delivered a now renowned speech at the Second Virginia Conference. In his speech, Henry called into question the American colonies’ passive behavior towards Britain’s control over them. Henry had the audience of Virginians and other Virginian delegates, which included George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He was speaking on behalf of all colonists who were tired of Britain’s tyranny over them. Britain had control over the colonies in many aspects, including taxation. Henry called for war against the motherland. Patrick Henry persuaded his audience to support a war of independence against Britain by the use of pathos, rhetorical questions, repetition, and logos. Henry “Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?” He asks the audience this to make them realize that enough is enough and they cannot sit by and watch Britain take more and more of their personal freedoms. Henry states that if they continue to do nothing then they will eventually have nothing as long as Britain keeps taking more and He repeats certain phrases to emphasize its importance and draw attention to what needs to be done. Henry knows that the colonies must take on Britain to obtain their own independence but he must get the audience to be on board with his plan and he does so by repeating cries for war. “…we must fight! repeat it, sir, we must fight!” is used to fire up the crowd and make them see no other solution than to go to war with Britain. By exclaiming “we must fight” twice, Henry really drives home the fact that if they want to be free of Britain’s oppression, then they have to fight

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