The Persuasion of Freedom
Aaron Valentine
Lehman
Eng. 3 Honors
3/26/13
The Persuasion of Freedom In the period of time when the American Revolution was being fought, many influential people wrote documents, or spoke about freedom. People such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine, shared a common goal. They used a variety of persuasive modes, tones, and stylistic techniques to get their point across. Eventually, with their determination and strive for independence, they helped build a great nation. Patrick Henry’s speech, Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis”, and Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” all had a great assortment of persuasive modes. In Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia Convention, he had a great deal of logical appeal, to explain that the colonists had tried to keep the peace with Great Britain over and over again, but it never worked. He made them have a few “duh” moments with his repetition of rhetorical questions. He ended with a sense of patriotism and pride when he said “give me liberty or give me death!” In “The Crisis” , Thomas Paine started with telling the colonists that they were not living up to their potential as Americans and only would defend their country when times weren’t so bad. He made the colonists angry at the king when he explained why he couldn’t use God to mandate his persecutions against the colonists. Towards the end, he used emotional appeal to tell the colonists that they need to fight against the common enemy for freedom. In the Declaration of Independence, it explained to Great Britain that America is now a free nation and that we had severed all ties to the King. The preamble is nothing but an appeal to the colonists’ emotions with explaining that all men are created equal under God. It then stated 27 accusations of the King overusing his power and made the colonists angry when they were pointed out. The document with its logical and emotional appeal helped convince the people and the new government to sign it and started
Lehman
Eng. 3 Honors
3/26/13
The Persuasion of Freedom In the period of time when the American Revolution was being fought, many influential people wrote documents, or spoke about freedom. People such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine, shared a common goal. They used a variety of persuasive modes, tones, and stylistic techniques to get their point across. Eventually, with their determination and strive for independence, they helped build a great nation. Patrick Henry’s speech, Thomas Paine’s “The Crisis”, and Jefferson’s “Declaration of Independence” all had a great assortment of persuasive modes. In Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia Convention, he had a great deal of logical appeal, to explain that the colonists had tried to keep the peace with Great Britain over and over again, but it never worked. He made them have a few “duh” moments with his repetition of rhetorical questions. He ended with a sense of patriotism and pride when he said “give me liberty or give me death!” In “The Crisis” , Thomas Paine started with telling the colonists that they were not living up to their potential as Americans and only would defend their country when times weren’t so bad. He made the colonists angry at the king when he explained why he couldn’t use God to mandate his persecutions against the colonists. Towards the end, he used emotional appeal to tell the colonists that they need to fight against the common enemy for freedom. In the Declaration of Independence, it explained to Great Britain that America is now a free nation and that we had severed all ties to the King. The preamble is nothing but an appeal to the colonists’ emotions with explaining that all men are created equal under God. It then stated 27 accusations of the King overusing his power and made the colonists angry when they were pointed out. The document with its logical and emotional appeal helped convince the people and the new government to sign it and started