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Essay on The Success of the Declaration of Indepedence

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On July 4th every year, Americans all across the world celebrate Independence Day, the day the United States declared their independence from Great Britain. The mechanism they used on July 4, 1776 was “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States” written by Thomas Jefferson. The Declaration Of Independence was a success by using various types of support, ethos (ethic), pathos (emotion) and logos (logic). The first paragraph lays the logic (logos) behind people separating from their government in a way that grabs the reader’s attention. He makes no mention of a specific people or country, so the opening paragraph does a wonderful job grabbing someone’s attention. By appealing to the human desire to be free by referring to…show more content…
Mr. Jefferson uses “we”, “us”, “they” and “he” to make his message personal. In the paragraph following the list of grievances, Thomas Jefferson explains they have argued against the grievances but their “repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury”. Instead of referring to the government as the king, he refers to him as the “Prince” who “is unfit to be the ruler of a free people” which lends more emotional support to the document (Jefferson). Next Thomas Jefferson unleashes strong emotions towards the colonists loyal to Great Britain saying, “They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity”. Those who are loyal to Britain are therefore enemies and represent the tyranny “The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen States of America” is announcing separation from. There is also some logic Thomas Jefferson uses in the paragraph to support the emotions he creates. Jefferson listed oppressions earlier in the document and concludes that they, those loyal to Britain, have no desire to stand by those declaring their independence, therefore those loyal to the King will be treated the same as Great Britain. Finally Thomas Jefferson closes the declaration with a powerful paragraph that calls for action in an emotional way and is effective because of the ethics and logic used earlier in the document. The supported emotion helps Thomas Jefferson appeal “to the supreme Judge of the World” stating the purpose
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