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Jefferson's Use Of Ethos In The Declaration Of Independence

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Alike to an instance of teenage rebellion, the young Colonies of North America sought to break free from the oppressive clutches of their parent, the Crown. Thomas Jefferson, in conjunction with other Founding Fathers sought to create a document that would separate the entities, serving as an example for posterity. Thus, The Declaration of Independence was an expression of outrage at the government; as such, verbal appeals to pathos, as well as parallelism, which served the authors’ purpose in asserting the colonies as an independent and separate nation. Seeing as the Declaration was born out of frustration, verbal appeals to pathos are rampant in the document. This is particularly apparent in the following statement: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The entire Declaration is built upon this foundational belief that all men are equal, and it further extends this appeal to pathos through references to the rather emotionally-charged …show more content…

Each grievance stated begins with “He has,” creating an exasperated, elongated, ‘laundry list’ tone. Furthermore, “That to secure these rights… Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government… it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government… Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.” The parallel structures used in this excerpt serve a crucial role in the effectiveness of the document mainly in providing a concrete rhythm. This rhythm shows that the Declaration of Independence was not merely a complaint letter—it was a proclamation of

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