On March 23, 1775 a well-known Delegate by the name of Patrick Henry presented his most legendary speech “Liberty or Death’ amongst his fellow audience members while appearing at the House of Burgess in Richmond Virginia. Patrick Henry respectfully introduced his visions on the situation he was addressing and voiced certain actions that should be engaged regarding the conflict with the Brittan’s. Henry used rhetorical approaches in order to convince the members in the audience that Liberty is worth fighting for as citizens of the United States of America. Henrys used motivational and responsive words through ideas that produced a powerful speech that resonated so strongly with is audience. Henry Patrick appealed to his audience throughout his speech threw the usage of imagery words in order to stir the emotions of his following audience members and peers to generate an image of endangerment and enslavement. One of the many ways Henry was able to connect to the audiences members was threw the use of imaginary words which emphasized repletion and eventually caught the audiences senses, and emotions by creating a lasting mental picture in the mind of his audience. Patrick Henry uses imagery towards his audience to illustrate a picture of what they are facing by presenting an example for well know literature “listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beasts”. (Henry) Henry evoked the use of pathos by connecting his audience with the feeling of intense emotions of the literature with the current situation they have. Henry choses certain word and passages such as “enslaving”, “Britain’s rules chains of slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!” (Henry) as being, and "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at... ... middle of paper ... ...vides remonstrations towards the American patriots who were against the British master. Throughout Americas history we have faced extreme hardships, epidemics, World War 1 and 2, and depressions, but America never longed to ceased to exist because of our fight that was embodied threw the words “Give me Liberty or give me death” (Henry) History isn’t defined as a list of facts, but a record if incredible principles and concepts that have swayed and motivated individuals in our present time. Works Cited Brands, Breen, Williams, Gross, H.W., T.H., R. Hal, Ariel J. American Stories A History of the United Sates. . Reprint. US: Pearson Education, Inc., 2012. Print. Source: Wirt, William. Sketches of the Life and Character of Patrick Henry. (Philadelphia) 1836, as reproduced in The World's Great Speeches, Lewis Copeland and Lawrence W. Lamm, eds., (New York) 1973.
Looking back in American history, it is needless to say that there were many trials and tribulations that were overcome to achieve the freedom U.S citizens have today. In retrospect, it is astonishing how the colonists were oppressed by the British for more than a century and finally joined together with courage to revolt against them. This type of revolution would not have been alive if it were not for the art of rhetoric. Political icons in American history used rhetoric to stoke the wrath of colonists to revolt against the British. Founding Father, Benjamin Franklin, significantly used visual rhetoric to persuade the colonies to unite together with his first political cartoon entitled, “Join, or Die,” which was published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Benjamin Franklin used his credibility to establish a well-crafted rhetorical illustration, in which its symbolization, initials, and caption all play an active role in the ground breaking drawing, which changed the minds of colonists towards the pursuit of freedom that is exercised today.
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.
Tindall, George, and David Shi. America: A Narrative History. Ed. 9, Vol. 1. New York: WW. Norton & Company, 2013. 185,193. Print.
Tindall, G.B. & Shi, D.E. (2010). America a narrative history 8th edition. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. p.205-212.
Story Time, by Edward Bloor, Harcourt: United States of America, 2001. 424 pages. Reviewed by Mar Vincent Agbay
Henry opens his speech addressing why colonists of differing opinions should come together to fight Britain’s rule. He acknowledges both sides, knowing that he must empathize with the differing sides and then promote his plan. He considers the action or dormancy of America’s military against British rule nothing more than a “question of freedom and slavery” (Henry). By doing so, he creates and ultimatum using two antonymic words “freedom” and “slavery”, therefore creating a fear of enslavement yet also evoking a sense of hope only found in military action. Henry says that by holding back his opinions he “should consider myself [himself] as guilty of treason towards my country, ...
Tindall, G. B., & Shi, D. E. (2013). America: a narrative history (9th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 9thth ed. Vol. 1. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2013. N. pag. Print.
Tindall, G. B., & Shi, D. E. (2010). America, a narrative history (8th ed., Vol. 1).
Tindall, George Brown., and David E. Shi. America a Narrative History. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2007. Print.
In the first paragraph of his speech he states “No man thinks more highly than I do of patriotism,” This sentence shows how Henry’s pride and patriotism for America.He wants what is best for his country. Henry desires to liberate his country from what he calls slavery from Great Britain. In paragraph 7, he states “ If we wish to be free--... we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!” Henry also views his fellow American as a strong country. In paragraph 8 he states “ The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force, which our enemy can send against
However, the author 's interpretations of Jefferson 's decisions and their connection to modern politics are intriguing, to say the least. In 1774, Jefferson penned A Summary View of the Rights of British America and, later, in 1775, drafted the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (Ellis 32-44). According to Ellis, the documents act as proof that Jefferson was insensitive to the constitutional complexities a Revolution held as his interpretation of otherwise important matters revolved around his “pattern of juvenile romanticism” (38). Evidently, the American colonies’ desire for independence from the mother country was a momentous decision that affected all thirteen colonies. However, in Ellis’ arguments, Thomas Jefferson’s writing at the time showed either his failure to acknowledge the severity of the situation or his disregard of the same. Accordingly, as written in the American Sphinx, Jefferson’s mannerisms in the first Continental Congress and Virginia evokes the picture of an adolescent instead of the thirty-year-old man he was at the time (Ellis 38). It is no wonder Ellis observes Thomas Jefferson as a founding father who was not only “wildly idealistic” but also possessed “extraordinary naivete” while advocating the notions of a Jeffersonian utopia that unrestrained
Tindall, George B., and David E. Shi. America: A Narrative History. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2007.
Brands, H. W.. American Stories: A History of the United States. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.
George Brown Tindall and David Emory Shi, America: A Narrative History, Ninth Edition, Volume One, (New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013), 504.