Summary Of Speech In The Virginia Convention By Patrick Henry

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

In “Speech to the Virginia Convention” by Patrick Henry, he used allusions to contribute to the meaning of his purpose. Patrick Henry wrote this speech right before the American Revolution took place. His purpose was to persuade the Virginia Convention leaders that it was time to declare war against Great Britain. To prove his point that the time for rebellion had come, he used allusions, which are indirect references to historical people, events, or documents. One of the allusions Patrick Henry used was in lines 18-22 and referenced The Odyssey by Homer.

How would life be in the United States of Great Britain? It would not be pleasant for sure. A monarch who sits on a throne thousands of miles across the ocean has absolute sovereignty, while the citizens remain voiceless. Luckily, this isn’t the case. The way early American history unraveled was strongly influenced by Patrick Henry’s speech at the Virginia Convention. This speech was given in 1775 to the members of the convention with the aim of fighting for independence from Great Britain. Henry skillfully executes several rhetorical techniques, leading to the successful persuasion of the members of the convention.

Patrick Henry was an American in the 1770s who was upset with the British and all their new policies and tariffs. In the “Speech to the Virginia Convention” (1776) Patrick Henry convinced the colonists to fight against Britain; using four main rhetorical devices: allusions, rhetorical questions, repetition, and figurative language. He uses these to persuade his main goal of war throughout the speech. He uses very powerful diction and has very strong opinions that can instantly persuade. How could just one man spark a war in one speech?

The common purpose between Patrick Henry’s Speech to the Virginia Convention and Thomas Paine’s The Crisis No. 1 was to persuade listeners into fighting for independence from Britain. They used different methods and tactics to do so. A great method is to appeal to the heart and head; emotionally and logically. People listening to the speech need reasons as to why they should follow what the speaker is saying. One can’t just speak with force and no substance and expect to have people agree with them. “You can catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar” Fear is a big motivator but it doesn’t nearly do as well as respect. There are many ways to persuade people but the most effective

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 fight for American independence was a long, arduous struggle, but many great literary works aided the battle. One such example is Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention”. Given in 1775 at the Virginia Provincial Convention, Henry aims to convince listeners of the futility of peace with Britain, and that they should join the efforts for the inevitable war. To accomplish this, Henry uses many different persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech”, Henry uses techniques such as rhetorical questions, allusion, and emotional appeal to convey the point that the United States must rebel against Britain.

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.

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.

During the time, America separated from Great Britain and people wanted their rights different from those in Britain. The historical time period taking place in 1775, was Patrick Henry delivering the “Speech to The Virginia Convention” to persuade his audience to separate from Great Britain‘s power of not treating their people right to moveover to write the declaration of independence. Patrick Henry will use counter arguments to construct this speech to help the people see what is happening to their society.

Patriotism is a way in which we can strongly express our pride of for our nation and simply a way to honor our homeland. A feeling that has been spreading throughout the world for thousands of years. Patriotism has been such an influential aspect of literature, it has changed the historical ways of writing. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry expressed their ideas of patriotism in very different ways, but they all one idea in common, to share their powerful writing throughout the world. In many pieces of literature patriotism was shown repeatedly through the writing. For example, The Crisis No. 1, The Speech of Virginia Convention, and The Declaration of Independence all thoroughly conveyed patriotism and a revolutionary pride.

“Give me liberty, or give me death!” is a quotation attributed to Patrick Henry, which he used to close his speech to Virginia Convention. During this time period, the 1770s, Patrick Henry, Thomas Paine, and Thomas Jefferson all made arguments in favor of separation of the American colonies from Great Britain; many of these appeals were persuasive for different reasons, whether that be logical, emotional, or pertaining to credibility and trust, which is to say logos, pathos, and ethos. First of all, we will examine Henry’s arguments during his speech at the Virginia Convention. Then, we will identify Paine’s appeals in a part of his essay, The Crisis n1. Lastly, we will evaluate Jefferson’s myriad of arguments in a part of his Autobiography.

“Give me liberty or give me death!” This statement from Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” delivered to the House of Burgesses, has been quoted by many, becoming almost cliché. However, the declaration is truly understood by a select few. The unjust Stamp Act passed by the British crown in 1765, brought fame and notoriety to Henry as he spoke out against the unjust taxation without representation. Ten years later on the eve of revolution, Henry calls upon the Colonial government of which he is part, to act for the betterment of the people. Patrick Henry attempts to persuade the House of Burgesses to revolt and declare war against Britain by logically convincing them that it is their natural right to be free and calling on