Rhetorical Devices In The Declaration Of Independence

On July 4, 1776 delegates from each of the thirteen colonies met in Philadelphia to sign what would become the first document signed in the history of the United States of America. Among those men was Thomas Jefferson, a scholar, business man and original author of the Declaration of Independence. After many months of drafting and rewriting, Jefferson created a document that would help the colonists achieve what had long been waiting for. Jefferson’s Declaration would gain independence for the colonies through its strong argument that used various rhetorical devices. Jefferson began the Declaration by giving some background about what the purpose of the document is and why it was being written. He was establishing deduction. He stated that all men have certain rights that must be protected by the government, and when these rights are threatened by government, it is the duty of the people to overthrow the government. He then applies this principle to the colonists’ specific. Jefferson, using the rhetorical device anaphora, creates a parallel structured list of wrong doings performed by the king. He repeats the phrase “He has” or “For” before stating what bad things the King did. Some of the most well known of the statements include “He has refused his assent to laws” and “For imposing taxes on

He writes that because the colonists’ rights were ignored by the King, it was time for the people to get rid of the King. By having a conclusion formed this way, the Declaration can now be viewed as a syllogism; however, right before stating his conclusion, Jefferson does offer a rebuttal. The concession states that the colonies need to solve this problem in a less dramatic way. Jefferson then refutes that the colonies did try to solve these problems in a less dramatic way, but the King still refused to budge. This counterargument helped to strengthen the argument even