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.

(par. 3). 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.

In fact, many were not willing to fight for freedom due their fear of British government and their rule over the colonies. 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

This compares the false established association with Britain to Judas betrayal of Jesus. 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. Moreover, he makes the audience believe that America must go to war against Britain and nothing else will work to prevent it, by using rhetorical questions. Henry wants to know why “…force must be called in to win back our love?” (Henry).

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.

Thirteen colonies’ statement at that time is they want to maintain solidarity with the Britain. 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.