Patrick Henry: Freedom Is Never More Than One Generation

    In Henry’s speech, he first sets the stage by using a proud tone while explaining the importance of war with Britain. His illustrious delivery of the speech itself is very moving, as the efforts to convince America to settle on the side of war. He goes on to convey, “Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of  those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power” (Henry 38). His tone of taking charge and only accepting the best from his country supports the claim that Henry is indeed the proud man he is. Henry also in his speech uses an enlightening tone to inspire his crowd he uses terms to explain how he will settle for only the best for the country. He uses phrases such as, “The war is inevitable-and let it come!” (38). This phrase brings up the emotion of the crowd as they believe in war, and Henry himself is full of power as he enforces that war must go on. He uses such enthusiasm and inspiration to uplift himself and the crowd to ensure that war is necessary. Overall, Henry;s tone of the proudness and

Immediately as the speech begins, Henry’s tone manifests itself and remains unwavering. Henry begins, “It is natural for a man to indulge in the illustration of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth” (1). This sheds insight on his message and portrays him as a well versed individual. He then strengthens his tone when he says

Patrick henry had many tricks up his sleeves to persuasion. In one way he uses examples of

One of the best ways to persuade an audience is through emotion. Henry uses pathos to appeal to many sentiments, one of the most effective being fear. When the British militia starts quartering in American households, Henry knows that the situation needs to be stopped before it is too late. He writes that the British are “sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains…”. Henry alarms the colonists that if action is not taken soon, the Great Britain will gain the advantage. Patrick Henry also plays on the colonists overwhelming fear of becoming slaves. Henry threatens that the colonists will become exactly what they hate if they just stand by idle. He writes that it is “nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery…”. Henry uses this to scare the colonists into action and persuade them to take a stand against the British.

In 1775, Patrick Henry gave America one of the most inspiring speeches that will bring soon bring them together with war on the rise. “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” has become the battle-cry to the people in the colonies to take a stand against Britain’s rule and make America their own country. Even after the attempted peace between the two countries, it has been exhausted to the breaking point, and it has come to the time where fighting for their own freedom is the only viable option. Henry’s speech spoke volumes to the American people of the truth, the false presence of peace, and the cry for battle against Britain.

Patrick Henry, one of the most, if not the most, influential politicians of eighteenth century America, wrote, and presented, the Speech in the Virginia Convention during a time of tension between Britain and its Colonies. As a spokesman of the independence movement, Henry continuously faced the threat of persecution by the British, yet he carried on expressing his beliefs explicitly until he earned the opportunity to attend the Virginia Convention, in which he respectfully, but courageously, argued that war with the British was inevitable. In doing this, he rallied the colonists into a fighting spirit, and one month later, the Revolutionary war had begun. Through his use of political rhetorical devices, such as, ethos, pathos, logos, and his infamous fallacy, Patrick Henry influences not only the colonists’ mindsets, but also their actions against the British King.

He uses diction, rhetorical questions, and logos to convey this. In part of his speech, it is said, "Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation?" (Henry). This is a rhetorical question used by Henry, asking whether a country who is willing to compromise would send over their military. In another section, Henry says, "...if it's [Great Britain's army] purpose he not to force us to submission?" (Henry). Here, Henry uses diction. He attempts to make his audience feel unsettled by using the word "force,” which goes along with his earlier statement about slavery. Henry also uses logos, as he exclaims, "Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other" (Henry). Due to the fact that Great Britain has no rivals near America, the only logical reason why they'd send over troops is because they are meant for the

Patrick Henry, in his speech to those gathered at the Virginia Convention and president Peyton Randolph, explains how the United States needs to fight in the Revolutionary War. Henry supports his statement by describing how important it is to answer the call for war. The author’s purpose is to emphasize how the war is inevitable in order to convince the president that they should definitely fight in it. Henry speaks in an inspirational and patriotic tone to those listening in on his speech. He establishes many rhetorical strategies to influence the president's decision including rhetorical questions, anaphora, and repetition. Henry emphasizes how the war cannot be avoided and tries to inspire the audience to fight in the war by addressing the

During 1775, colonists were going through something that affected them deeply. Living under Britain's rule, they had little to no freedom. In “Speech at the Virginia Convention” Henry expresses his view on living under Britain's rule. He encourages American men to fight against the British in order to ensure freedom. Patrick Henry persuades his audience by showing it will be necessary to go to battle through his powerful use of ethos, imagery and rhetorical questions.

Throughout the speech, Patrick Henry used repetition numerous times in order to prove that they have tried everything to stop the British Ministry and that he is ready to fight for his freedom. For example, towards the middle of the speech, he said “we must fight” repetitively because he believed that they have tried all the other options they’ve had to choose from. But sooner or later, Henry came to the idea of going to war because he thought that would resolve the issue. In the end of the speech, he repeated the word “peace” three times to get his point across that there is no peace to be found

An appeal to emotion assists Henry in convincing his listeners that his purpose is important. For instance, anger and oppression creates inspiration to listen and take action towards the issue. Although pathos significantly helps persuade, the blend of rhetorical devices ultimately allows Henry to successfully achieve his

The In Patrick Henry's speech in the Virginia convention center, through the speech he tries to explain why he believes that they should go to war to fight for freedom and liberty. The following quote shows one of the few thoughts on why they need to fight. "Why stand we here idle?" What Henry means by that is, why are we just standing around and wishing for freedom and liberty, rather than actually out there with our brothers and neighboring colonies fighting for what we need and want? Another quote showing why he believes they have to fight is shown through the following quote. "The war is inevitable, and let it come, i repeat it sir, let it come." The whole idea of Henry's speech is to attempt to pursuade and prove to his fellow people

On March 23 of 1775, Patrick Henry gave a speech to his fellow Virginians at Saint John’s Church- Richmond, VA. What did he want Virginians to do? He needed to tell the Virginians to arm and defend themselves. Patrick Henry wanted everyone to be on the same page as him on the subject of their independence. He wanted their independence no matter the cost. He was willing to go to war. The point of his speech was to have the Virginians on his side about starting to rise against their mother land and begin a revolt against Britain’s King George III. His famous words “Give me liberty or give me death!” brought on an emotional appeal to the colonists which showed that Henry’s call to action worked. Another way he affected the listeners on an emotional level was that he pointed out how the British people made them into slaves for their own benefit. He wanted his fellow Virginians to open their eyes to the reality of what is going on and not just pretend it is not happening. He was telling them not to trust the British and their petitions or the acceptance of one. If they did not rise up against the British, they would stay servants to them.How did he justify his desire? Desire is needed in order to grab the audience’s attention. His desire can be seen and heard throughout his speech. Henry was a leader in Virginia and the other colonies and was known for speaking out and resisting the English rule. This is a way to show how his desires were justified. He grabbed their attention by

In life you have two options, you do as your told or fight like hell, risk it all in hopes of making things right. In the 1700’s America needed to declare war against Britain, Patrick Henry was the man who started it all; he was the shot heard around the world. While at a government convention Henry presented the speech, “Give me Liberty or Give me Death.” He wrote this to express his dissatisfaction with America and their opposition and fear to go into battle. He made it clear the British were already preparing for war and the incoming threat was near. One can unequivocally understand the lasting impact and effectiveness of his argument when he explains how the war is inevitable. Henry uses asyndeton, epistrophe and most importantly call to