Classical Rhetorical Analysis : Thomas Jefferson

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.

On June of 1776, the Declaration of Independence was born. Drawn up by Thomas Jefferson and based on the works of John Locke, the general purpose of the document was to clarify that governments have conditional, not absolute authority over the people; that human beings possess natural rights that can’t be taken from them and government is created to protect those rights. The phrases “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “all men are created equal” were the main theme of the social contract written for the small colonies of what would be the basis of the United States of America to declare independence from Great Britain and its tyrannical king. However, “unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” and “all men are created equal” did not apply to African Americans, enslaved or free for the coming years.

Wheatley wrote, “how well the cry for liberty, and the reverse disposition for the exercise of oppressive power over other agree”, bringing attention to the fact that the colonists were contradicting themselves by demanding their freedom from Britain but denying slaves their freedom at the same time.

10. Find, list and explain an example of parallel structure in the Declaration of Independence.

In the Declaration of Sentiments, author Elizabeth Cady Stanton expresses her anger of the oppression experienced by women in the United States. After being rejected to attend the World’s Anti-Slavery convention in London, Stanton was frustrated because she was being rejected for being a woman. This motivated Stanton to share her own ideas on advocating women’s rights and changing the way women are treated in society because of the mistreatment done to her, as well as many women across the nation waiting for their voices to be heard. Stanton parallels the Declaration of Sentiments with the Declaration of Independence by using laws that the male population regarded as righteous and including how it had negative effects on over half the American population. This put into question male authority and supremacy, creating a more concrete argument by revealing what men already have under the law, to what women should have. The sophistication of the Declaration of Sentiments to a document that the U.S. government values highly, threatens the values of the U.S. by making women’s rights a more pressing issue. The Declaration of Sentiments targeted the U.S. government and the population by appealing to their own opinions and beliefs in order to recognize that women were being treated like second-class citizens. Although the Declaration of Sentiments never made a significant impact on the

Equality is a huge theme and reason for the document. Jefferson especially draws much needed attention to equal rights for all people. The phrase “all men are created equal” implies that all people have the same rights and no one person has greater power or more freedom because of their social standings. Although, we are all equal, we are not all the same, and certain inequalities will still exist.

The Declaration of Independence uses many of the beliefs that are central to Locke’s Two Treaties of Government, which are all still very important to us today. Beliefs such as all people are equal, their natural rights, and the government’s role in its citizens lives was the foundation to building the United States the world knows today. The focal points in their two documents are almost exactly the same; Locke emphasizes people’s natural rights in the statement “that being all equal and independent, no one ought to hurt ones life, liberty, or property", while Jefferson highlights them by saying “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness." It is commonly speculated that Jefferson’s first draft of Declaration of Independence actually copied Locke verbatim by saying “life, liberty, and property”, rather than “pursuit of happiness”. While this has never been proven, it shows how Jefferson utilized Locke’s ideas.

Some of the abuses he describes are shutting off trade with other parts of the world, quartering troops within the colonies, and forcing colonists to be tried in England. Jefferson and others saw these as a violation the people’s right to choose. It was his dream that men should be able to appoint their own government and vote on all decisions that would affect them.

CM: The striking similarity to Jefferson’s claim to “certain unalienable Rights... [of] Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” is blatantly obvious; the parallels in these two pieces that guarantee these irrevocable rights are almost word for

Rhetoric is the study of how writers and speakers use words to influence an audience. Pathos, Logos, and Ethos are examples of rhetorical devices, where the rhetorician would appeal to an audience to prove a point. In both the Declaration of Independence and The American Crisis #1, the authors use several examples of rhetoric to persuade their audience in the 1700s, to separate themselves from England.

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

Thomas Jefferson believed that all Americans should have the "freedom of language and sentiment…as derived from the laws of nature" . In his most famous document, the Declaration of Independence, he stated "that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain [inherent and] inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" . Jefferson was a strong advocate of a bill of rights within the Constitution. In a letter to James Madison, he says that he "did not like…the omission of a bill of rights providing…for freedom of religion [and for] freedom of the press" . Jefferson was in favor of religious freedom because it did him "no injury for [his] neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god" . Jefferson wrote the Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom which essentially stated "that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion" . He summarizes his feelings in letters to both Elbridge Gerry and Edward Carrington, where he writes that he is "against all violations of the constitution" because "the basis of our governments should be the opinion of the people, [and] the very first object should be to keep that right" .

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” (qtd. in Allison 65). Before 1776, Colonial America was a colony of Great Britain. Then, when their mother country became too oppressive, brave revolutionaries planned a Declaration of Independence to rid themselves of their bonds. This document launched the colony into The Revolutionary War with Great Britain. Eventually, The United States of America gained independence at the hands of many brave men and women. Prominent among these heroes and heroines is Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Apart from the

This particular section also plays an especially vital role in declaring the independence from Great Britain as it clearly lays out all of the usurpations the King has committed. When analyzing this segment in particular, it should be noted that this section has a strategic organization in itself as the list of usurpations increases with severity as the list goes on. Expanding upon the organization of this portion of the document, there seems to be a segmentation of the listed abuses. The first section addresses the diminishment of a representative government, and explains how the tyranny of the King has replaced such a system. The following group of accusations include the restrictions the monarch has placed on the colonies’ ability to self-govern. Finally, the last few grievances depict the barbaric nature of the King’s rule, and explain that he has waged war upon the colonies. An abuse that addresses such cruelty is given in the following quote: “HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken to Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.” Succeeding the long list of the King’s exploitations are the last two paragraphs of the document, which make up the

will do in the 1800’s, managing their home. Even though Stanton liked where she was they moved to Seneca, Falls and met with her old friend Mott. In 1848, they granted their promise and held the first Women’s Rights Convention, in addition to this, the people who attended this meeting believed or wanted to have equal power as men. In the Convention Stanton drafted the Declaration of Sentiments which is similar to the Declaration of Independence, “the best protection any women can