Patrick Henry's Speech Summary: Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death

On March 23, 1775, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John 's Church. These famous words were not only a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but they would have an everlasting impact on young English students studying the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Patrick Henry also used figurative languages such as allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. In this specific piece of literature, qualities like independence and individualism are exceedingly prominent, this all being due to Henry’s use of literary devices. Conversely, in the very first sentence, Henry uses ethos to articulate how he is patriotic to his home, but he occupies diverse views than his audience, the Virginia

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.

Patrick Henry, a Virginian lawyer, made himself known for the speeches supporting American democracy. He is known as the "Orator of Liberty." In 1775, American colonists were still under Great Britain’s power. Many were hoping to be able to work out their disagreements and remain British subjects. Patrick Henry had had enough of cooperating with the British. Henry believed the only solution left was to go to war with Britain. So he gives a speech to the Virginia Convention to plead his cause. In his speech he uses many different examples of ethos, pathos, and logos.

In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention” given by Patrick Henry to the President in 1775, asserts that the colonists should not be trying to negotiate with the British. His purpose was to convince the audience that they should not be trying to befriend the people of Great Britain rather that they should make Great Britain their foe. Henry uses his speech to appeal to both the President and the colonist through the use of figurative language, tone, and syntax. Patrick Henry’s use of diction, a persuasive and forceful tone, appeal to ethos and pathos, as well as various syntactical elements in his “Speech to the Virginia Convention” shows that the colonists should be fighting to break away from the British monarchy rather than negotiate terms to try and stay under their clutches.

Patrick Henry, former governor of Virginia, bravely spoke on the 23rd of March, 1775, at St. John’s Church, introducing his strategies to end the American Revolution in victory. The speech was so inspiring that it ignited a massive flame of patriotism. Americans began to greatly support his political ideology. Due to his stirring choice of words, the phrase “Give me liberty, or give me death!” impacted the listeners, making his remarkable words yet known to this date. Henry’s use of ethical appeal, logical and emotional appeals, as well as rhetorical devices, touched the audience. His persuasive techniques were the reason behind his exceptionally successful speech.

Throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many literary devices to convey his thought and opinions to his audience, and with it, he hopes to alter or sway their views on the subject matter. Starting from the very end of Henry's speech, he states “but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”, this now infamous line uses the logical fallacy of false dilemma. This fallacy, also known as either/or, plays to his advantage as it makes the problem seem greater than it actually is by only presenting two extreme options, liberty or death. Another literary device Henry uses in his speech, is ethos, which appeals to the audience's moral or ethical plane. He does this by addressing God, ergo an appeal to his religious portion of the audience, on multiple occasions. Such instances of this occur in

“It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to god and our country” (Henry) during the time the speech was written, the colonist were trying to be separate from Britain. People wanted out of British laws, but had fear of fighting war. The colonist struggled with no money for an army nor the support to create one. In Patrick Henry’s, “Speech to Virginia convention ” he primarily used pathos to persuade the audience to stand up and fight.

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry presented the idea of fighting against Great Britain for liberty, which Great Britain had suppressed the American colonists for years. Freedom and liberty were necessary for the colonists of the Thirteen Colonies to feel like individual people. Every person should be able to decide the action they would take and the responsibilities they would have. This speech was remarkable and memorable for the start of the bold actions that changed the world forever. Patrick Henry persuade the colonist to fight the British government by using his strong voice as a weapon.

“ Give me liberty or give me death”,( Patrick Henry). The most well known speech given by the prestigious Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775 expressing his thoughts and feelings about fighting back against Britain and protecting their beloved country. At this time the British was defeating America terribly which had made Patrick Henry feel as though his freedom was being jeopardized. Patrick Henry’s speech was an attempt to persuade the american citizens not to just sit and do nothing, he wanted to fight back against Britain. Patrick Henry felt as though many of the citizens were not aware of the seriousness of what was happening and that the needed to have a wake up call. Patrick Henry's speech was to connect to the audience and show then exactly how serious this issue is and he did that by using a lot of emotion. The most effective persuasive technique that Patrick Henry used in his famous “ Speech to the Virginia Convention” is pathos because it was used sufficiency throughout his speech.

In 1775 the American Colonies stood at a tipping point. Britain and the Colonies had been embroiled in a continuing struggle over numerous injustices, and the Colonies seemed at long last situated to engage in a revolution against Britain. However, the colonial representatives were still tied up in negotiations with Britain, and many delegates of the Virginia Convention wanted to delay actions until the negotiations had concluded. Patrick Henry disagreed with the delay, so he addressed the Convention, arguing for the need to mobilize troops against the British, a request tantamount to treason. Instead of shying away from the polarizing nature of his argument, Henry adopted a respectful, but urgent, tone, crafting an argument that would inspire his audience into action. Henry’s “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech effectively utilized logic, credibility, and emotion in order to persuade his audience into voting in favor of his suggestions.

On March 23, 1775 “ Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John's Church. These famous words were not only the use of a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but they would have an everlasting impact on young English students studying the use of ethos, logos, and pathos. Patrick Henry used not only these rhetorical devices but also allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life.

Lawyer and politician, Patrick Henry in his speech, “Give me Liberty Or Give Me Death” (March 23, 1775), explains that he give this plea to urge the old dominion to form militias to defend itself against British. He supports his claim by first using a religious reference to express the themes of freedom, equality, and independence. Then uses a selection of other strategies like rhetorical question and allusion to disprove the opposing arguments and clarify the point he is making. Patrick Henry purpose is to fight back and he wants other to fight with him in order for independence. He creates a powerful and commanding tone for the second Virginia convention.

The revolutionary speeches composed of by Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine both have common goals in terms of the changes that they want made to the way of life for all Americans. The technique and manner in which the two conduct their speeches are significantly different, though. Patrick Henry’s speech is mainly to persuade the Virginia Convention to be more assertive toward the British government, and to prepare for war if the convention's voice was not acknowledged by them. Thomas Paine’s speech, “The Crisis: Number 1”, was also to written to persuade the American people. The speech’s main purpose is to persuade people to fight for their freedom.

March of 1775 was a day of persuasion for steps towards freedom. A former governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry wrote the speech “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” in response to British conflict and wanting to peacefully approach it with a reasonable effort. The British were enforcing more soldiers into the colonies and the Americans wanted their liberty. Henry advocated for the colonist to fight if their circumstances were not met with the British. Being a former governor, Henry had the knowledge of how the government system worked and was a figure who was looked up to in the state of Virginia. He was able to motivate through the use of rhetorical questions, a strong emotional appeal, and speaks directly to the audience in 1st person to influence their opinions personally.

On March 23, 1775, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” was heard all throughout St. John 's Church. These famous words were not only from a great speaker looking to have his voice heard, but the words truly had an everlasting impact on freedom’s history. In the speech, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” by Patrick Henry, he used figurative languages such as allusions, parallelism, and biblical references to bring his speech to life. These examples are just a few ways that Henry used literary devices, to create emotion and realism. In this specific piece of literature, qualities like patriotism and individualism are exceedingly prominent, this all being due to Henry’s use of literary devices.