Patrick Henry's Speech Rhetorical Analysis

Upon the eve of the Revolution, the colonists had spent several years growing tiresome of British rule and preparing themselves to revolt. They had become united under the goal of attaining freedom and had developed their own personality, which was different from any found in Europe. Additionally, Britain treated the colonies with disrespect, thus increasing their desire to separate themselves. In the years leading up to the American Revolution, the colonists united through their desire for freedom and developed into their own people seeking freedom from an oppressive British rule. The main reason the colonists wanted to rebel was because Britain was treating them poorly and abusing them.

He says that the colonists ' petition has been received with "an insidious smile". The use of the words "insidious smile" creates an emotional appeal, because it fools the patriots into trusting that the British would take care of their petitions (which they never would), but it really is a set-up to enslave the colonists and keep them under its rules. He also references biblical allusion to create a metaphor between the positive reception of their petitions and the kiss which Judas gave to Jesus before his betrayal. The kiss, appearing to be something affectionate and positive, is, in fact, what eventually causes Jesus ' death. With the uses of the allusion/metaphor, Henry wants to reveal the British pretentious mask, that the British will NOT consider their benefits and ultimately lead to their enslavement and betrayal.

It was not until Patrick Henry, an orator and lawyer from Virginia, convinced them to do otherwise in his Speech at the Virginia Convention. Since this during the Age of Reason, logic was commonly used and helped persuade the masses by using rational thinking and deductive reasoning. Patrick Henry used logos to win over the colonists and change their overall opinions on the British.

One of the earliest well-known opponents of Great Britain was Patrick Henry. Throughout his life he gave many speeches supporting the American Government, ultimately making a name for himself. During a time of uncertainty for the colonists in 1775, Henry still supported his opinions on American Democracy. In his opinion, the only choice left was to go to war with Great Britain. In order to gain the colonist's approval, he issued a marvelous speech persuading the colonists to go to war.

His urgency to join came from his feeling that the country “no longer [had] any room for hope” and could only find peace by fighting (Henry 2). The sense of no hope creates a want among those at the convention to join the war to try and take back what they came to America to find. Many found this to be a very strong point as to why they needed to fight for their freedom. Henry’s speech is generally seen as the most persuasive, however, some may argue that Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence is the most persuasive because of his emphasis on having tried everything to gain the freedoms they wanted under the King’s ruling, but have failed. Jefferson mentioned how the colonists “Petitioned for Redress in the repeated Injury” against England (Jefferson 3).

Patrick Henry’s speech to the Convention of Delegates in Virginia was a powerful speech given with the intent to convince the Colonies to unite and fight against the tyranny of the British. The final part of his speech seen in the above excerpt fits well into the overall structure of his speech because it appeals to pathos by using a lot of emotional diction to show the listening audience that their only way to gain freedom was war. When he states, “...but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” he is not only making the audience feel his strong emotions, but convincing them that the cause for liberty is a life or death matter, and the only way to gain the liberty that they absolutely need for survival is to fight. This excerpt ends his speech well because it leaves the audience feeling a variety of emotions, including anger and patriotism, which makes it effective towards Henry’s cause.

The question, “Why the fighting started?” isn’t as complicated for King Philips War, as it is when examining Bacon’s Rebellion. Bacon’s rebellion was a result of settlers in the backcountry become upset about the weak efforts of the aristocrats in the East to protect them from Indian attacks. Bacon led the backcountry in attacking the Indians over some land, defying the government of Virginia, which caused fighting to begin not only against the Indians, but also against the Governor and the settlers in Jamestown. In comparison, King Phillip’s war began strictly as the Indians fought to defend their threatened way of life as the English quickly populated New England and destroyed forests. Although Bacon’s rebellion began over more diverse issues, both the rebellion and King Phillips war began over the root issue of English greed and taking

Jesus considered the kiss of Judas as an act of union, but ultimately lead to his ruin and finally his death. Henry used these and many other allusions to only further persuade his audience to take a

Colonial America is facing struggles from within and from the British, but are still trying to maintain neutrality. However, Patrick Henry believes in otherwise and being fed up with British actions against the colonies, expresses his thoughts in his “Speech in the Virginia Convention.” Henry is biased since he is an American and sees the British as the enemy, but this is also in a time where tensions between colonial America and Britain are rising as the colonists revolt. Patrick Henry utilizes rhetorical strategies such as rhetorical questions, antithesis, and parallelism to bring forth claims that they must go to war against Britain since all the possible ways to try to prevent war have been exhausted and ineffective.

Augustine attempts to inform others about the various enjoyments life has to offer. His big argument is that people can attain true happiness by accepting God into their lives, and refrain from participating in worldly pleasures. He believes that rejecting the temptations of all worldly pleasures is essential in developing a true and fulfilling life devoted to God. The argument to be had here is that some could debate that Augustine’s strict views of steering clear of the pleasures our world has to offer is excessive and can prevent him from attaining a balanced lifestyle. Society views overeating as outrageous and unhealthy, and the same could be said for Augustine’s belief of self restraint.

However, the new laws and regulations that British promulgated are forcing them to panic. They want the king to use his influence to get rid of those regulations in order to avoid the war. But the petition displeases the

A Grand Remonstrance was narrowly passed to give Parliament control over the appointment of Royal ministries along with control of the armed forces. Charles I refused to accept this, and in January 1642 his response was to send armed soldiers to arrest Pym and four others in the House of Commons. They had left before the armed soldiers arrived and the episode proved to be a public relations disaster. During 1642 both the King and Parliament recruited armed forces. When Parliament issued a set of 19 Propositions that went far beyond the Grand Remonstrance, the King refused to accept them and declared a state of war.

After the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, many people were indecisive about which side to support in the Revolutionary war. Delegates from the colonies came together to decide whether to break away from Great Britain or reconcile with them. The thirteen colonies were split into three groups, patriots, who supported breaking away from the English crown, loyalists, who supported the king, and undecided people. At the delegation people would give speeches advocating for both sides of the conflict, one of these people was Patrick Henry. Patrick Henry uses pathos, his audience's sense of patriotism, and ethos, calling Britain and its king a tyrant, in his speech to arouse support for the efforts of the patriots in breaking away from Great Britain.

Dumping 342 containers of tea into the Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773 was just the beginning of the rebellion against paying taxes to Great Britain. As the author and orator of the “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry fights against being “slaves” to Great Britain. Henry utilizes rhetorical strategies such as, ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade Virginia to start the American Revolution. To show the audience that he has credibility, Patrick Henry starts his speech with, ”No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House” (Henry 1). He tells the audience that he has incredible patriotism for the colonies and that there are worthy gentlemen that have the ability to fight for our country.

Under the control of the British Parliament in 1775, the American colonies consider going to war in order to gain independence from Britain. In “Patrick Henry’s Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry addresses the need for American colonists to work together to stop the British from controlling them. Thus, Henry’s periodic sentence, rhetorical questions, antithesis, and anaphora successfully convince the American colonists to unite against the British and to bring awareness to their wrongdoings. Firstly, Henry applies periodic sentences and rhetorical questions to convey the idea that the American Colonists must fight back against the British by working together if they want to gain freedom. Henry believes that “if [they] wish to