Rhetorical Analysis Of The Declaration Of Independence

In Jefferson’s declaration, both the organization and the use of logic are effective and adequate. He begins with the colonists’ fundamental beliefs that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” He addresses that the role of the government is to secure and protect the rights of the people. As he proceeds, he states that if the government fails to “secure these rights,” then “it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and institute new Government.” Jefferson then creates a list of ways in which the British government has violated and stripped the colonists of their rights. Through the inductive proof, he explains the reason in which the colonists must become independent from Britain to gain freedom and to be treated fairly.

This parallel structure is used by Jefferson to make clear which truths are held to be self-evident.

Foremost, when looking at the Declaration there needs to be an understanding of who the audience is. The most prominent person who would be reading this document would be the king himself, King George III. When looking at the Declaration, King George would primarily be looking at the argument Jefferson put forth. He also would be looking at the attacks and accusations being set against him. The purpose of the Declaration, with the King for an audience, is to separate all legal and moral ties. In the newly formed American government, Congress would be looking at what they were setting themselves up for and placing forth the foundation of their government. Congress’s purpose for writing the Declaration was to start a government and

Beginning in line 45 Jefferson lays down his massive list of specific grievances that the King of England has committed against America. He states that he is very well aware that King George has “refused his Assent to Laws,

1B) The Declaration of Independence uses several rhetorical strategies, making the argumentative testament of the wrongdoings of the king an effective in pursuing equality for all men. Jefferson utilizes logos, pathos and ethos to prove his point to the country holding their liberty prisoner. Jefferson’s use of logos begins with stating the obvious reason the king should set the people free: the people have the right to the pursuit of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” (2). The King has not done good to the people, in fact he has refused to pass the laws necessary to create order, dissolved representative houses, cut off trade, and imposed unlawful taxes upon the people. They have the basic human rights given to them by God that should set them free from the tyrannical king. Some of the emotional side of Jefferson’s views slip into this argument, such as "mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable" (5). While stating further wrongdoings, Jefferson’s use of pathos increases, raising the rage of the republic at the injustice of the rules they have been subjected to. “He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation” (26). Jefferson calls for a sense of empathy from the crown and establishes a sense of severe discontent

Jefferson wanted a separation of powers within the government in order to prevent one person or group having a tyrannical hold over the nation. He believed

Style affects the overall work, in this case pathos plays an important role in determining how it will turn out. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson criticizes that the British King “destroyed the lives of our people.” In addition to all the other acts against the colonies committed by the King, this specific phrase appeals to the emotion of the colonies as well as their oppressors. It shows the effects of the tyrannical ways the British imposed on the colonies, showing that it was hurting them, not helping. Another example of the use of pathos is the listing of how the King is guilty of multiple abuses against the colonies. This provides evidence that they place a value on rights, which then goes on to justify why the colonies were leaving. The “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions”, Stanton includes the sentence, “women do feel themselves aggrieved, oppressed and fraudulently deprived of their most sacred right”. This appeals to the pathos of men specifically that they feel in the wrong, by conveying the emotions of women due to the treatment of men. It shows how men are degrading the

It was crystal clear that there were too much corrupt practices which were too unfair for the population in the colonies. Due to this reason, it was justifiable that people did a revolution against King who was a “tyrant”. Some may think that Thomas Jefferson’s action was not right when he did the Declaration of Independence. Nevertheless, Jefferson was able to justify this ways. There were a lot of abuses that the King did to the colonists. Even if the colonists tried to make some consensus with the King he ignored them so they revolted against him. For Thomas Jefferson, any government that were destructive of life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness the citizens had the right to declare revolution to remove it from its authority. For Great Britain, it was an abusive government that asked the colonies to pay taxes so they could compensate their losses from the war. While asking taxes from the colonies, the British government did give the colonists any right to be represented in the Parliament. This only exhibits that the British government was only concerned about their mother country and did not pay attention to the needs of their colonies. For this fact, declaring of independence was a better choice as far as the point of view of Thomas Jefferson because the colonies were not developing much under Britain. Although the colonies were making a lot of money and can be economically independent, their hands were still tied from Britain. In order for the colonies to grow and develop, they need to be independent from their mother country which was

There were, and still are, people in the United States that only wish that the Declaration of Independence was written with complete honesty, and not full of lies just used to convince the metonymy of the British Crown to let the Colonies do their own thing. Benjamin Banneker was one of these people. In 1791 he wrote to Jefferson with a declaration of his own arguing against slavery. He used many strategies that assisted him greatly in getting his argument across.

In 1776 America’s founding fathers decided to separate from their mother country, Great Britain, and live as independent states. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson writes that the “United colonies...ought to be free and Independent States,” (lines 131-133) after they have undergone a long string of abuses by King George. As he writes the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s purpose is to give reason to the colonists, the King and the foreign worldly powers of why the colonists feel the need to separate themselves from Great Britain. In the Declaration Jefferson faces the challenge of persuading his audience that the colonists need to dissolve from Great Britain, he overcomes this by using rhetorical devices to convince the audience that the colonists have certain rights the British are not protecting, the colonists have long been abused by King George and the colonists have tried to reason with the British, but they need to become independent states.

Works from The Age of Reason are often very logical and persuasive, appealing more to logic and reason than emotions. "The Declaration of Independence", delivered by Thomas Jefferson, was written during this period of time to inform Britain and other countries that the colonies were breaking away from British rule. "The Declaration of Independence" is a document from The Age of Reason which can be shown through the use of persuasiveness, logical appeal and argumentative points.

Thomas Jefferson, a lawyer and advocate of revolution, declares freedom from Britain in The Declaration of Independence. He persuades his audience, the American colonists and other nations, to understand why they decided to break free from Britain. He takes on an authoritative stance to persuade them. The zeugma he uses emphasizes the colonists' need to gain liberty from Britain. Jefferson describes the numerous ways England has violated the colonists' rights so he is able to easily persuade his audience that their actions are warranted and that they must do everything they can to attain independence. He points out that they must protect "[their] lives, [their] fortunes, and [their] sacred honor" because each of these words hold value to the

When looking at the Declaration of Independence and the justifications which Jefferson used in order to encourage the dissolve of the ties between the United Colonies and Great Britain, it becomes apparent how much of the theories of John Locke that Jefferson used as the basis for his argument. Focusing particularly on the second paragraph of the Declaration, the arguments for the equality of each man and the formation and destruction of governments come almost directly from Locke's Second Treatise of Government. The other arguments in the Declaration of Independence deal primarily with each citizen's rights and the natural freedoms of all men, two areas that Locke also spent

Thomas Jefferson played a key and influential role in the American Revolution by putting his thoughts on paper. Before the Declaration of Independence was imagined, discussed, or signed, Jefferson was publishing works to promote his vision. He unknowingly used the Transformational Leadership and developed a plan that was broken down into three steps. First, in 1774, he published the Summary View of the Rights of British America, which was a pamphlet used to inform the Continental Congress of their standing with the British Crown. The goal of the pamphlet was to intellectually stimulate Colonial leaders and appeal to their emotions. (www.loc.gov, 2014) Jefferson’s saw the inequality in a special way and he wanted the Colonial leaders to fully understand their plight. Step two came a year later in 1775 when Jefferson wrote the Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms. (www.loc.gov, 2014) This time Jefferson’s intent was to start a fire within the Colonists and he achieved this through Inspirational Motivation and Idealized Influence. (CF02, FRLD, p. 22, 2012) Finally, Jefferson was able to bring the Colonial leaders on board with revolution and step three was to write the Declaration of Independence and rally the public.

This quote shows the emotion put forth into the document. This quote alone, truly gives the soul definition of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson uses words like unalienable rights, life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. These descriptive words hold much power to them. Jefferson also shows logic when he begins to list the number of grievances that the 13 colonies have against Great Britain. An example of credibility Jefferson exemplified would be the quote, “ We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved;