How Does Jefferson Use Ethos In The Declaration Of Independence

By using emotionally charged words, Jefferson’s attitude toward the situation, which is negative, is to be revealed. He lists, “he has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” The words ‘plundered’, ‘ravaged’, and ‘destroyed’ represent his frustration and anger among the king. It shows his resentment of the British crown and how well the colonists would do without King George III’s authority. Along with connotative diction, the use of parallelism created a rhythm in the text. He says, “…to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government.” This quote clearly demonstrates the emphasis of “government” and “rights”. Jefferson explains how natural, born given rights, should never be violated by anyone, but if it is violated, the people have the right to overthrow the government and replace them with

In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, explains to his readers why the colonies chose to abolish Great Britain’s government. His goal is to inform the readers that the government has certain responsibilities to the governed and that the British failed to adhere to its responsibilities to its colonists. His second goal is to justify their actions by explaining why it was not considered treason. By establishing his credibility and appealing to ethos, pathos and logos, Jefferson successfully wrote an informative, impactful, and inspirational document.

The Father of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, a man who is recognized as the penman of the revolution and has had his name tarnished by the modern populace as being nothing more than a tempestuous hypocrite; a man who relentlessly advocates liberty, yet he also had ownership of a private plantation harboring an approximate 170 enslaved laborers. Within the essay Thomas Jefferson and the Meanings of Liberty, Professor Douglas L. Wilson of Knox College drives a compelling argument that sheds a newly found light on the seemingly convoluted actions of our notorious founding father. Professor Wilson indulges the reader in topics related to Jefferson’s infamy at a personal, empathetic level, and he makes it point not to apply a biased reasoning based upon ethics later to the era.

When Jefferson stated that the United States were to be free, it began a period of time where Americans would begin to decide just what it meant to be an American. Values would be adopted; a cultural identity far removed from that of Europe would be founded. America, while separating itself from Britain, still had to wrestle with the fact that the rest of the world thought them nothing more than degenerate barbarians who were bucking the control of their superiors. However, between the landing at Plymouth Rock and the Revolutionary War, those little colonies had grown apart from Great Britain. Not just in distance but in cultural values as well. Feudal Britain could not understand the democratic America and vice versa. The humanist theories of the autonomy of the human spirit had really taken root in America whereas in Britain and other parts of the world the ideas were little more than words since there were already monarchical governments in place. While it is true that America based many of its systems on British techniques, there’s no denying that the emphasis of power and control rest far more readily in the rights of the individual rather than the rights of the nation.

Thomas Jefferson writes this because it helps influence the reader to believe that the king of England is breaking their God given rights. He goes on later to say in a multitude of ways how king is treating them unfairly "he has refused his assent... he has refused to pass other laws" (Declaration of Independence pg.341). Jefferson allocates a lot of blame on the king and none on the colonists whatsoever. He uses God as support and the king as a scapegoat. The use of God and the God given rights is only mentioned to help gain support and prove the point of the document.

Jefferson's text was extremely taboo especially without the support of a reputable country. Thomas Jefferson's words were also courageous and daring. In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson used the

In “The Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson displays why the colonies should gain sovereignty through rhetorical appeals, harsh diction, and complicated syntax.

In the beginning, Jefferson claims the fundamental beliefs and goes on to explain that the government is to protect the rights of the people; when the government fails to do so the people have the ability to modify it (Jefferson 770). He then discusses how the British government has taken the rights of the colonists and logic urges them to conclude that they have no other choice but to overthrow the totalitarian government (Jefferson 770). These strong claims help build logos by convincing the colonists to stand up for themselves and their rights. Jefferson then goes on to list the evidence and ways in which the British government, especially the king, has deprived and trampled on the colonist’s rights (Jefferson 771-772). This evidence helps illustrate the logical appeal by opening the citizen’s eyes about their rights and why they should stand up for them. Jefferson’s logical appeal is persuasive with the use of claims and evidence, which successfully allows him to achieve his purpose of persuading the thirteen colonies to break away from

Jefferson supported liberty and equality for individuals. In the American Declaration Independence of 4 July 1776 by Roberto Hole pointed “Men had rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and that to secure these rights, governments instituted among men, deriving theirs just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” (Hole 39, 40). Jefferson’s philosophical statement that “all men are created equal” contradict itself because He was a slave owner and the wealthy friends that were associated with him supported

He believed that a way to “restrain men from injuring one another” is to limit the power of the government. Which led the belief that government should not be too large or powerful which would lead to too much control over the people. He viewed people as free and should be treated as such. Jefferson knew that to much control from the government would cause the citizens to protest or rebel. He felt that the only way to protect our liberty was to not allow the government to rip us of our nature rights or fill us up with debt. He argued how the whole reason for the declaration of the independence was to place a government to give us our rights not to do everything for us and to control everything we do. Jefferson helped establish a country free from absolute power. Jefferson stated that the “true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management.” Thomas Jefferson believed that the people common and wealthy had all the right to be

A solid argument and point in the declaration that he makes is, “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men”. This means that any genuine government is formed to defend peoples' constitutional rights including, “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”. All through the declaration Thomas Jefferson displays how Great Britain is not protecting their civil rights at all, but more like interfering and in some cases taking them away. Another example is, he claims and states how Great Britain keeps transporting over soldiers and assumes and expects the people to provide, house, and nourish them. He had the people take care of these soldiers as if they were their own children, and they could not do a single thing about it. These same soldiers were also permitted to break and disobey all the laws in the colonies and not be punished for any of them. That is not protecting people’s rights, it is more like invading them. Another solid argument in the document that Jefferson makes is, “deriving their just power from the consent of the governed”. That means any authority or power that the government has is given to them by the approval of the people, but this right

Jefferson was a founding father who created the Declaration of Independence and he was hypocritical when it came to his ideas of freedom about slaves in America. Thomas Jefferson didn’t grant African American slaves their rights when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. He owned slaves on his plantation which goes against the American freedoms that he wrote about in the Declaration. Jefferson's personal relationships with his slaves affected the way that he viewed African Americans.

The American Declaration of Independence, penned mostly by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, is a beloved document and symbol of freedom in the hearts and minds of Americans. The iconic, tripartite “slogan” of this document is the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And while this is for many the most memorable phrase in the document, the actual content focuses much more on the abuses and injuries of King George III than on these inalienable rights. In fact, Jefferson lists twenty seven specific abuses of King George III compared to the three listed inalienable rights. The question then arises, why does Jefferson parse his argument for independence in such a way? This essay seeks to show that Jefferson chose to focus on the

In addition, Jefferson changed “Life, Liberty and Property” from John Locke to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”, which means that it is a matter of what you choose to do to change what you feel is going against your freedom. As well as, how well you contribute to the community and if whatever you’re contributing, is impacting the justice of being free. He did this because he wanted to separate himself from the British. Jefferson believed that Great Britain’s history established “an absolute tyranny” (Jefferson 626). In other words, Great Britain made it seem that we the people had no say in the government and Jefferson wanted to refrain from treating the colonists wrongly. As a result, Jefferson had a very independent goal that aimed towards how he could change the way the government was once forced and allow the people to have the right to say, do, and/or go against what they thought needed to be overthrown.

The third primary source is an online song by William McCarty, “Jefferson and Liberty” (1801). The author’s intention is to explain that if we want to return America to the free republic it is supposed to be, we must do more than campaign and vote for Republicans. We must embrace and advocate the only principle that can unify our political efforts and ground them in moral fact. That principle pertains to the purpose of government. The context of this source is to tell people they should remember the rights that they have and how quickly they were being lost. It does not take a genius to see that they were traveling down a road towards tyranny. This source is unbiased, because it tells us the truth is that Jefferson’s views on private rebellion