Rhetorical Devices In Thomas Jefferson's Declaration Of Independence

Thomas Jefferson, renown scholar and founding father, builds a strong and compelling argument for the independence of America through his use of educated and formal rhetoric. Jefferson attempts to sway both the British King, King George III, and the American people to believe that declaring independence is the best course of action for the success of America in the future. In order to convince the King George III and American colonists Jefferson uses a strong and upstanding tone throughout this document.

Declaration of Independence Precis Thomas Jefferson in his historical document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), asserts that the colonies should break free from Britain’s tyranny. Jefferson supports his assertion through the use of anaphora, parallel structure, imagery, emotional appeal to patriotism, and logical appeal to the colonist’s basic rights. Jefferson’s purpose is to advocate for the separation of Britain and the colonies in order to escape the British tyranny that King George imposes on the American colonists. Jefferson writes in a measured tone for the British parliament, King George, and for colonists who have been a victim of Britain’s oppression.

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.

American Founding Father, Thomas Jefferson, in his historical document, The Declaration of Independence, presented problems that were occurring in the seventeenth century, in the colonies. Jefferson’s purpose was to convey the idea that Great Britain was oppressing the North American colonies from moving forward, and that the colonists should make a push to break away from Britain and gain independence. He articulates an angered, but yet encouraging tone, in order to appeal to not only Great Britain, but also the emotions of the colonists to get them on board with his plan.

On the eve of a modern era, July 4, 1776, a select committee of five representatives sat down to document the separation of the American colonies from the despotic reign of the English Monarch, King George. It was on this day that Thomas Jefferson put pen to paper to write “The Declaration of Independence” and courageously declared autonomy from Great Britain and their harsh and unlawful actions which, the colonists, can no longer be content with. Jefferson proclaims the separation of what will later become the United States of America from Imperialistic Britain. Jefferson addresses King George directly to state his intentions as well as the Patriotic Colonists in order to persuade them in favor of the liberation of colonial America and obtaining

In the “Give me Liberty or give me Death speech, Henry uses the rhetorical device of repetition, parallelism, and rhetorical questions.   Repetition, using the same words, as in; “The war is inevitable —and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come” (Ungar), “We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!”(Unger), and

The Age of Reason is a name used to describe the age that influenced the American Statesmen of the Revolution. Taxes forced upon the colonists by Britain after the French and Indian War enraged the colonists, leading to the Revolution that would change the world forever. Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and Thomas Paine’s The Crisis Number 1 were two very important works of literature during the Revolutionary period. Both works used persuasion effectively. Jefferson wrote to King George III declaring independence; Paine’s purpose was to unite America to fight against Britain. However, The Declaration was most effective because we still use The Declaration of Independence today. The United States would not be the democracy it is today without Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of

The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson, and Speech to the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry compare in many different ways. Regardless of the fact that Patrick Henry’s piece was a speech and Thomas Jefferson’s was a legal document they both used rhetorical devices effectively to convey their message and persuade their audience. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was writing it so that it would stand the test of history. He made it a concrete document by using repetition and parallelism. In Henry’s speech, he was aiming to convince the delegates at the Virginia Convention to begin preparation for war With Britain.

The institution of slavery has been regarded as a period of injustice, discrimination, and oppression. African Americans have not only been deprived of their human rights, but have faced physical and mental abuse from the hands of those in power. Several advocates, including the son of slaves and ambitious intellectual Benjamin Banneker, have deemed the enslavement of people as a shameful action enacted by the government. Within his letter to Thomas Jefferson, Banneker brings attention to how Jefferson had acknowledged the immoral conditions brought upon the slaves, yet he had implemented no actions to bring an end to the enslavement of his people. In order to convey to Jefferson in an effective matter, Banneker utilizes a demanding tone and an appeal to emotion to enhance his argument.

On March 23,1775 Patrick Henry convinced colonists to fight against Britain by using four rhetorical devices which were allusion, imagery, one-word sentences and rhetorical questions. He did this by reading his famous speech called “the Virgina Convention speech”. These four devices helped Patrick Henry convinced many people that were still not willing to go to war. Patrick Henry purpose for using allusion was to helped him connect with the listeners. “Listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beast.”

In conclusion, Patrick Henry conveys his opinions on what the colonists must do in order to gain freedom to the Virginia Convention through the rhetorical devices of allusion and repetition. Henry asserts the importance in the colonists believing in fighting for their freedom

The Declaration of Independence was penned primarily by Thomas Jefferson with the purpose of formally declaring America’s separation from Great Britain. In the document, Jefferson clarifies that the split is justified and that the colonists have the right to act on the injustices that has occurred under British rule. Jefferson states that “all men are created equal,” and that they have certain god given rights. He adds that if any form of government challenge these rights, the people have every right to abolish that government.

While the Declaration of Independence was written with the intent to convey to Britain that the thirteen colonies were independent states and no longer under their rule, it actually declares that men are equal, and thus have certain rights that cannot be denied to them. Through the list of grievances, Thomas Jefferson exemplifies the colonist’s inborn rights that were denied by the King. Jefferson constantly states how the British government unfairly ruled them with limited representation and would constantly impose actions without their consent, such as when he quartered troops in their homes and cut of their economic activities. Jefferson believed that a Government should support its people and head to its wants and needs in order to become prosperous, rather than being tyrannical and limiting their expansion, both geographically

In Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” Henry uses persuasive techniques such as repetition and rhetorical questions to interrogate the motives of the British and to reason why the colonies should declare their independence despite the consequences. In Henry’s speech, he uses repetition to address that war is inevitable to show how they must fight in order to achieve their goals as a nation and to prove that the colonists will not be alone over the course of the battle. In Henry’s speech he includes, “The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!” By this quote, Henry is saying that the colonists have already gone so far and worked so hard to give up now.

1. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776. The purpose of the declaration was to separate the colonies from Great Britain and to give reason for this severance. The preamble gives the reasons why they must separate themselves and why they cannot tolerate a foreign ruler. Jefferson wrote his first draft of the declaration, and when he showed it to Congress there was an intensive revision process totaling 86 changes, these changes must have been made extremely precisely when you think of the severity of this text.