Liberty or Death

Liberty or Death “Liberty or death!” This phrase was used by both Patrick Henry and Malcolm X in their speeches. Even though these men gave their speeches almost two centuries apart their goal was the same. They both wanted to convince their audience to fight for freedom. Through the use of rhetorical strategies, Patrick Henry was successful in convincing the colonies to fight for their freedom from Britain and Malcolm X was successful in convincing African Americans to fight for their rights. To begin with, Patrick Henry was one of the first opponents of British rule in the colonies. He was famous for giving speeches on American Democracy. Patrick Henry’s wit, eloquence, and rhetorical gifts made him a great orator. He eventually became an influential leader during and after the American Revolution (Henry). Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” was given before the American Revolution. By the time that Henry gave his speech, many colonists already wanted to break away from Britain. However, other colonists were not too sure about rising up against British rule. At the beginning of the “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” Patrick Henry uses the either or fallacy when he tells the audience, “I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery. He uses this fallacy to convince the audience that they only have two options, freedom or slavery, when there are really more options. It also makes the situation seem very serious (Henry 226). As the speech continues Patrick Henry says, “Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss.” This is a biblical allusion to Judas’ kiss. Henry uses this allusion to say that Britain may act like it is concerned about the well-being of the colonies, but Britain will betray them eventually (Henry 228). Further into the speech he says, “We have done everything we could to avert the storm.” He is using a metaphor to compare the revolution with a storm. Henry is saying that the revolution has become

Cited: “A Brief Summary.” History in an hour . 21 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2012. Malcolm X. “The Ballot or the Bullet.” Edchange. Web. 2 Oct. 2012. Miller, Keith 1. Speech was given on April 12, 1964 2