Patrick Henry's Famous Speech

882 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Patrick henrys speech analysis

Patrick Henry's Famous Speech 'Give me liberty or give me death.' These famous words were uttered by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775, as a conclusion to his speech delivered to the Virginia House of Burgesses. Within his speech, he uses the three rhetorical appeals (ethos, logos, and pathos) to convey a feeling of urgency toward the changes occurring in policy within the Americas implemented by the British government. He cleverly uses these appeals to disrupt the paradigm that Great Britain is going to let the American people have any liberty. The Purpose of this speech is to gain support for a freedom movement from the British government. One can see this when he states, ?Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?? He is speaking about Great Britain bringing their military to the Americas. This tells the people he is speaking to, ?[England has] chains which the British ministry have been so long forging.? He brings up this in his argument to bring to light the liberties that have been slowly pulled away from the people living in the Americas. Within his speech, and by looking at his diction and word choice, one could derive he is talking to an upper class group of men. He continually uses the word ?gentlemen.? His statement ?the worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House? makes it sound as if he is in a meeting of elected officials and decision makers. During the first ...

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of 'A Calm Address To Our American Colonies'

    498 Words  | 1 Pages

    His writing makes a reader doubt the veracity of the American Revolution and the right of the colonies to fight for independence. Personally, my perspective changed and I no longer saw England as some tyrant power who tried to strip the colonies of their rights and taxed them unjustly. I began to see how England’s actions were justified and my patriotism took a blow. England clearly had a right to tax, as is evidenced by the charter and especially because the taxes were for expenses racked up for the protection of the colonies in the French and Indian War. Overall, Wesley makes a very convincing argument that the colonies are acting irrationally and unreasonably, which makes you wonder whether one should be proud of America’s “honorable” fight for

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Strategies Used In Patrick Henry's Speech At The Virginia Convention

    345 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Butterflies Theme Of Sacrifice Essay

    1155 Words  | 3 Pages

    Henry, Patrick. 23 Mar. 1775. Give me Liberty or Give me Death. St. John's Church. Richmond, VA. 7 Dec 2013.

    Read More

  • David Ortiz And Baseball

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...oing to dictate our freedom: stay strong!” (Fox News Latino). His patriotic speech will forever be remembered because it was something positive for Bostonians to think about despite recent events. His patriotism is the ultimate illustration of the values the United States of America was founded on: “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness” (Slauter).

    Read More

  • Patrick Henry Led Early America with his speeches

    734 Words  | 2 Pages

    In March of 1775, the words of Patrick Henry rang in the ears of his fellow Virginians. He stood in St John’s Church, located in Richmond, made an audacious public speech containing his opinions in relation to the colony’s next step of action in the war. This was not the first time that Henry stood in front of an audience to present a speech. Henry was known for speaking messages that people did not forget. Prior to this speech, Patrick Henry had made his name known by writing the ‘Virginia Resolutions’ against the despised Stamp Act. In the view point of this specific speech however, Henry spoke his opinion of the war starting and what he believed as truth. Virginia was the largest American Colony, with the House of Burgesses that was the longest-serving legislature that Virginia proudly claimed. Patrick Henry was also previously known for his incredible words and messages he had shared in the past. This speech went over the top compared to former speeches. As a known Christian man, Henry referenced an array of Biblical subjects throughout his speech “Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death”, in which his audience could take time to deeply digest. During this era, most Americans were Christians, making it easy for Henry to never quotes scripture directly, but imply it for his audience to grasp.

    Read More

  • Contextual Analysis Ronald Reagan

    1042 Words  | 3 Pages

    Primarily he starts out his address by speaking directly to his audience, the American people. He states: “We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.” By doing so he establishes who his intended audience is, which is very important in a speech like this. It helps the audience feel a greater connection to the speaker since he is addressing them directly and relating to them.

    Read More

  • Deontology in Jim and the Indians

    891 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...ir cause for freedom and equality, thus bringing about a greater amount of happiness. This could be viewed as bringing a greater amount of happiness to a greater amount of people over a longer period, rather than bringing unhappiness to a small minority over a shorter period.

    Read More

  • “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson: A Brutal Tradition

    593 Words  | 2 Pages

    The famous civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people,” capturing the main message of the short story “The Lottery,” by Shirley Jackson, perfectly, because of the themes of peer pressure and tradition present throughout the story. In this story, the people of a small village gather for their annual tradition, a lottery, in which one person is picked at random out of a box containing each of the villagers’ names. The village, which is not specifically named, seems like any other historic village at first, with the women gossiping, the men talking, and the children playing, but soon takes a sinister turn when it is revealed that the “winner” of the lottery is not truly a winner at all; he or she is stoned to death by everyone else in the village. The purpose in this is not directly mentioned in the text, and the reader is left to wonder about the message the story is trying to convey. But there is no purpose; instead, the lottery is meant as a thinly veile...

    Read More

  • American History : The Revolutionary War

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    In conclusion, it is evident that the freedom of America was not free. It was bought with a price. This freedom was gained through years of sacrifice and the American victory in the Revolutionary War. It’s military assets, the aid from foreign countries, and the unwavering, inspiring spirit of independence were significant factors in the colonial victory. Without these three components, the Revolutionary War would have been lost and America would not be as we know it today.

    Read More

  • John F Kennedy Learned Hand Analysis

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    Who can ever imagine a world without freedom? However, that is happening right now in some part of the world. Two of the greatest American speakers expressed their viewpoints on liberty through their speech, Learned Hand’s “I am an American Day Address,” and President John F. Kennedy’s “1961 Inaugural Address.” They both believe everyone has the right to obtain liberty, and encourage people to join in the fight for freedom.

    Read More

  • The Theme Of Change In The Lottery By Shirley Jackson

    1492 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every year, the lottery is held, and every year a person is killed. Each villager neglects to acknowledge the unjustness of the lottery and continue to participate because of the tradition it represents in their society. The lottery was a cultural tradition passed down from the very first settlers of the village. It makes up a huge part of the village’s history and culture. The villagers pay recognition to their culture by continuing the tradition of the lottery even though the lottery is not morally right. On page 93 it states, “There was a proper swearing-in of Mr. Summers by the postmaster, as the official of the lottery; at one time, some people remembered, there had been a recital of some sort, performed by the official of the lottery, a perfunctory tuneless chant that had been rattled off duly each year… There had been, also, a ritual salute, which the official of the lottery had had to use in addressing each person who came to draw from the box…” This quote shows the tribal-like rituals and traditions associated with the lottery. Through the years, some of the rituals of the lottery were lost, but the main elements of the lottery remained the same. The idea behind the lottery was that the ancestors, of the villagers, believed that human sacrifice would bring in good harvest. This led to the development and continuation

    Read More

  • Animal Cruelty and Interpersonal Violence

    2006 Words  | 5 Pages

    Ascione’s (1993) definition of animal cruelty is defined as “socially unacceptable behavior that intentionally causes unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress to and/or death of an animal” exclusive of socially condoned behavior, such as legal hunting and certain agricultural and veterinary practices. Not all violent individuals have been previously cruel to animals but studies have shown that a great number of them have exhibited this behavior. A great majority of the literature calls for a better understandin...

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Animal Abuse

    1130 Words  | 3 Pages

    “There can be many reason for animal cruelty, like any other form of violence, is often committed by a person who feels powerless, unnoticed, or under control of others. Some who are cruel to animals copy acts what they have seen or that have been done to them, others see harming an animal as a safe way to get revenge against--or threaten-- someone who cares about that animal”. (“Animal… Statistics”) Concerns towards abusing animals have gone up in the past. Although there are not many cases on animal abuse, many have occurred. Abusers are charged with Criminal Animal Abuse and then sentenced to life in prison. Some animals that are physically abused are sometimes rescued by Animal Control, and are taken it to an animal shelter. However, many shelters have not had the space to keep the animals so the workers would have to put them down (Carol Roach). Researchers have shown that the main animals getting abused are dogs, chickens, horses, and livestock (“Animal...

    Read More

  • George Orwell’s 1984 and the National Security Agency (NSA)

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    Mass surveillance is a word that has been thrown around every so often in the last few decades, especially ever since George Orwell’s book Nineteen Eighty-Four. Although this book was released over 60 years ago, some aspects of the book are seeming to become true in the United States, and other parts of the world today. The idea of mass surveillance isn’t so taboo anymore, as there are several programs ran by sovereign countries around the world which monitor their domestic citizens, as well as citizens and leaders of other foreign countries. With all of our technological communication advances since 1949, this age of information is only going to get more severe, and more tracking and monitoring will be done. The biggest offender of doing this is the NSA, shortened for National Security Agency. The NSA is an organization that was made by the US Government to monitor intelligence, and collect, translate and decode information. What’s important about the NSA, is that this most recent summer, a program named PRISM was revealed by a whistleblower, and in summary, PRISM monitors everything it can, including our own citizens in the United States. This “scandal” had a lot of air time for many months, and is still in the news today. The revelation of what the NSA is doing behind our backs is what made the basis of this essay, and made me think of how similar this entire situation is to Nineteen Eighty-Four.

    Read More

  • Animal Cruelty: Dog Fighting

    1876 Words  | 4 Pages

    The most common victims, based upon a report by the Humane Society, the largest animal protection organization which is also rated the most effective by its peers, tend to be dogs; pit bulls in particular. From a 2007 media report of 1,800 cruelty cases...

    Read More

More about Patrick Henry's Famous Speech

Open Document