Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention Summary

In Patrick Henry’s,“ Speech in the Virginia Convention,” he explains to the President as well as the government at the time on how a war with Britain is completely necessary in order to gain full independence for America. Henry uses a proud tone to inspire his audience, simple and complex sentence structure to convey straightforward details, patriotic and passionate diction to bring an uprising of emotion, and ethos to ethically support the main idea.

The colony of Virginia could not agree if they should press for an undisturbed solution with great Britain or to prepare for war. Patrick henry introduced resolutions calling for military preparedness. After politely listening to his fellow colleagues refusal to armed rebellion, he rose to deliver this impassioned speech. His speech was towards the delegates from Virginia, Henrys purpose was to persuade the colony of Virginia to withdraw from great Britain to fight back against them. He alienated Britain by blaming every hardships they faced to Britain. He uses rhetoric to initiate a well- known tone with the audience while the exigency in his words and alarming last line," give me liberty or give me death", left the crowd with a threatening

Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia Convention written and spoken by Patrick Henry raised the people 's attention. He spoke passionate words because he no longer wanted to be a slave to Britain.The men that attended the Virginia Convention realized that they needed to start fighting back after all the troubles the British caused. The British terrorized innocent people of America, even killed men, women, and children. In his speech he proposed resolutions to prepare the Virginia Colony for war and gave the speech to support those resolutions. His reasons for the speech were to convince the colonist, to try and maintain peace, to persuade war against Britain, and to show that he would be a good president. Patrick Henry’s speech was very effective regarding the Virginia Convention using ethos, pathos, and logos.

Patrick Henry evolved from being an attorney to becoming an influential and inspirational revolutionary who convinced the colonists to fight for independence. During this time the British ruled and colonists had begun to resist them. Furthermore, religious values were important in the time as most everyone belonged to a church. In his speech to the Virginia convention, Patrick Henry uses pathos to enact a sense of distrust and fear toward the British.

The prominent patriot Patrick Henry once said, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (Henry 7) implying that a life without liberty is not a righteous life. Henry’s quote is included in his popular oratory, “Speech to the Virginia Convention”, in which he discusses with the colonists who were under the tyrannical reign of the Crown. Throughout his speech, Henry lists all of the discrepancies the thirteen colonies had with Great Britain, concluding that there is no other option, but to retaliate instantaneous. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” he utilizes amplifying loaded words and coherent parallelism in order to influence the assembly to unify and reciprocate.

Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” This quote illustrates that people need to accept failure and learn from it and never lose pride in what you are doing. Patrick Henry relates to what Martin Luther says because he believes in the same kind of dedication. Henry is trying to convince the people and their president that they need to go to war with Great Britain, but he’s also trying to say that it's not going to be a peaceful war. He needs to get the people to follow what he says, so in his speech he uses a few different techniques to convince them. In Patrick Henry’s famous speech, “The Speech in the Virginia Convention,” he uses repetition, questioning, and allusions to enhance his idea to start war efforts with Great Britain.

According to Patrick Henry, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (Henry 7). Patrick Henry was able to give an outstanding speech at the Virginia Convention, regarding the actions needing to be taken by the colonists. This speech included the criticizing and denouncing of Great Britain, along with the urging of the colonists to fight for independence. This including that the colonists need to become prepared because the unjust actions of the British were not simply going to go away. Henry urges the colonists to fight for the freedom that they rightfully deserve, and he does it extremely well. In Patrick Henry’s ‘Speech to the Virginia Congress’, he demonstrates passionate pathos appeals and rhetorical questioning to persuade the colonists to stand up for themselves and join the fight for their freedom.

Patrick Henry was an influential leader, from the 18th century, who delivered one of the most famous speeches in the United States. He was also a politician, with a strong sense of patriotism, leading to his support in the opposition of the British government. Before Independence Day, America was under the control of the British, and by 1774, the British Parliament started passing laws to tax colonists. However, Henry was remarkably against to the submission of British government. The patriot transformed the spirits of the colonists, and perhaps bringing America, itself, out of slavery through a speech, “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death.” This speech was given at the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775 at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia. Henry’s speech played an important role for the War of Independence, as well as, finding one of the principals of which America is founded upon, freedom.

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry, one of the crucial motivators of the American Revolution, delivers a speech in the Second Virginia Convention regarding gaining independence from Britain. Henry’s diction, allusions and counterarguments aid in his purpose of making the delegates feel the tyrannical rule by the British and believing in going to war with them is the only option in attaining freedom.

The prominent patriot Patrick Henry once said, “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” (Henry 7) implying that a life without liberty is not a righteous life. Henry’s quote is included in his popular oratory “Speech to the Virginia Convention.” While discussing with the colonists, Henry lists all of the discrepancies the thirteen colonies had with Great Britain, concluding that there is no other option, but to retaliate instantaneously. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” he utilizes amplifying loaded words and coherent parallelism in order to influence the assembly to unify and reciprocate.

During the American Revolution, there were many politicians who helped the cause towards rebellion. Patrick Henry was one of these statesmen. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1765. Shortly after being elected, Henry delivered a speech that spoke against the Stamp Act. But, his most famous speech was the “Speech in the Virginia Convention” in 1775. This speech flamed the Revolutionary spirit and led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. How did Henry achieve such a positive response to his speech? He accomplished this by developing ethos, pathos, utilizing repetition, and choosing an urgent tone.

One of the best ways to persuade an audience is through emotion. Henry uses pathos to appeal to many sentiments, one of the most effective being fear. When the British militia starts quartering in American households, Henry knows that the situation needs to be stopped before it is too late. He writes that the British are “sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains…”. Henry alarms the colonists that if action is not taken soon, the Great Britain will gain the advantage. Patrick Henry also plays on the colonists overwhelming fear of becoming slaves. Henry threatens that the colonists will become exactly what they hate if they just stand by idle. He writes that it is “nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery…”. Henry uses this to scare the colonists into action and persuade them to take a stand against the British.

Writing to an audience that still lacks the desire to oppose the British, Patrick Henry in his "Speech to Virginia House of Burgesses" focuses on the rights of man and defying oppressors. Through figurative language, rhetorical questions, and diction, Henry heightens the necessity to rise up and fight against the British ruling power over the colonist population in Northern America.

Pathos or, playing on the emotions of the leaders of colonial America, is another tactic Henry draws on to convince them that revolution is essential. He uses the patriotism and pride of the colonial leaders to make them see how the British crown is taking away their natural rights as human beings. He states that outsiders say the colonies are “weak” because they would be “unable to cope with Britain as their adversary.” The leaders of the colonies are not used to being called weak, because they are of the upper classes of the Americas. Therefore this would ignite them to revolution, because the British would be against them, they who had dared question the strength of the members of the colonial Americas. Also, this statement of colonial American weakness would make the members of the House feel slighted because they have been working towards strengthening the Americas and saying they are weak is saying they are failing as leaders of the colonies. Further more, Patrick Henry continues to excite the emotions of the House of Burgesses, stating that