Slander And Glorification In Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

Patrick Henry was born in 1736 and believed that the people should be free from the rule of the English Parliament. For example in the Speech in the Virginia Convention he says, “I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission?” His words make it clear that the purpose of the martial law is to force people into submission. He then asks the audience, “Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive for it?” Both quotes are great examples of his skills in voice because he brings up the problem and then challenges them to find any other meaning behind the words.

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.

Henry’s Persuasive Etiquette What technique sent unhappy colonists into battle ready patriots? After the French-Indian War Britain needed a way to restore their lost funds. One bad financial plan after another led to the brink of revolution, Patrick Henry convinced Virginia to go to war through a certain method. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention”, ethos was the most effective persuasive technique because it made the unfair British occupation something everyone can relate to and promoted the character of the American people.

“We must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!” (Henry 103). This speech by Patrick Henry was delivered before the Revolutionary War in an effort to persuade the colonists to go to war immediately against Britain. Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” used logos as the most effective persuasive technique because it appealed to the reasoning of the colonists and questioned the British intentions.

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).

During the Revolutionary War, the unity of the colonists was strong, as they had to fight against the British, despite the British having larger militia forces. In Document C, Richard Henry Lee stated that “all N. America is now most firmly united and as firmly resolved to defend their liberties ad infinitum against every power on Earth that may attempt to take them away.” This was said while the war was happening, and how British wouldn’t stop fighting the colonists until they got their money from taxes. The British were determined to fight until they won, despite how much it hurt both sides. Lee states how despite the size of the conflict, Americans will continue to fight together to win their freedom.

The uniqueness of this war stemmed in that it was a stalemate and the last of the North American colonial wars; strangely enough, it has been considered a success by Americans today. Overconfidence and assumption were stemmed from the success of the American Revolutionary War causing politicians to underestimate the ‘enemy’. These ideological flaws lead to the breakdown of a few of what are now known as the nine core principle of warfare. A lesson sorely learned was a lasting appreciation for military strength in preserving the freedom of the country and liberty of its citizens. 6 As the Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin (1816)

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.

Henry knows that the United States citizens are scared of the British troops and puts the freedom of the U.S on the line as a technique to prove that now is the perfect and best time to fight back. Another example of a rhetorical strategy is when Henry says “For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery: and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate.” Citizens are aware of the horrid and unfair treatment of slaves. Henry uses slavery to make citizens think that the more they let the British gain

In Jefferson’s final words he calls for a complete break away from the Kingdom of Great Britain. His final line in which he states, “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”, carries some of the most powerful diction in the entire speech and really brings home the final point that they are not doing this