The Declaration of Independence and the “Speech in the Virginia Convention”
...ife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness…” The Declaration of Independence talks about why the colonies must break away from England. It gives reasons such as “He (the king) has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.” Jefferson persuades his audience by using parallelism and restatement to make his ideas clear. “…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…” “…It is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.” Charged words are used to appeal to emotions. “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” Jefferson provides the people with logical reasons why the colonists deserve rights, and why the king is immoral. “All men are created equal.” “In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms. Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” Patrick Henry felt many of the same things as Jefferson, and in 1775, Henry gave a speech before the Virginia Convention. He used oratorical devices such as rhetorical questions, restatement, repetition, parallelism and exclamation. The speech was written in paragraph form. The content of the speech was emotional and passionate. “Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings.” Henry gives the Virginians reasons why they need to break away from England. “The questing before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery…” John Henry is extremely persuasive due to the oratorical devices he uses in his speech. He asks rhetorical questions to get the audience thinking. “Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous ...