Patrick Henry Speech Summary

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Liberty, but at what cost?
On March twentieth, one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five, the Second Virginia Convention met inland in Richmond, Virginia in what today is called Saint John’s Church, as opposed to the Capitol in Williamsburg, in order to avoid interference from Lieutenant-Governor Dunmore and his force of Royal Marines, to bring up ways to resolve the differences between the colonies and the crown of England or to talk about possible independence from Great Britain and it’s king, King George. There, a delegate of the convention, Patrick Henry, proposed the idea to raise a militia and put Virginia on the defensive against the British, but his adversaries urged him and others to be cautious and wait until King George III replied to the Continental Congress’ most recent petition for reconciliation with Great …show more content…

Patrick Henry then continued on to talk about how he hopes not to offend anyone with the contents of the speech he was about to make, showing he cares about how others perceive him, thus hinting that he had a great character and with that a powerful ethical appeal on his side. Then, Henry talked about the colonies as a country giving that part of the speech a subtle pathetical appeal due to the fact that the colonies being united would bring forth many emotions in patriots. Again, Henry used the appeal of pathos to his advantage by saying the colonists independence or subordinance is the same as freedom or slavery. He then logically stated that freedom is the one that should be debated about at the convention as that is the one people would want. Next, he goes on to state how he holds the God above earthly kings which is logical and pathetical in that it makes sense to do so and panders towards the religious feelings of the

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