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Analysis of patrick henry speech
Patrick Henry's speech analysis
Patrick henry march 23 1775 speech rhetorical analysis
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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
...ican. Henry made great effort to constantly put God first in not only his life, but in the messages that he shared with people. Amongst this, he loved his nation, especially the people of Virginia. The opinions he had regarding the Revolutionary war, were vividly explained in this speech. Mr. Henry was passionate about peace, and the love that God had for the world. He had a very strong faith, and never hesitated to express what he had learned in his Bible studies. Specifically in this message, Henry used several different Biblical themes as a way to draw in his audience. In using his knowledge of the Bible he was able to precisely get the point a crossed that he was trying to make clear. Henry believed in the freedom of the people just as God had intended it to be. If this would mean to fight for that right, then he was ready to put forth everything that he had.
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
Patrick Henry was known as “the Orator of Liberty” and created his name with his speeches. When colonists were divided in 1775, some were hoping to work it out but not Patrick Henry. He thought the only choice was to go to war with Great Britain. Henry uses ethos, pathos, and logos to show his clause for going to war with Britain.
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.
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 attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on their patriotism and pride as leaders of colonial America. Throughout his speech, Henry justifies his argument for going to war, by logically explaining himself to the leaders of the American colonies. Obviously “men often see the same subject in different light.” Therefore, Patrick Henry uses this in a step-by-step explanation of why he believes that the colonies should join together in revolt. He states, because men have different views, he wishes to express his own, without “be[ing] disrespectful,” to anyone in the House.
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."
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.
“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
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...
Patrick Henry’s effective diction emphasizes how much the British had suppressed the colonists and that it was time to fight for their freedom. Henry displays this through his strong use of pathos, logos, and ethos. His rhetorical questions really appeal to the logic and ethics of the colonists and leaves the no choice but to join him and rebel.