Ethos Pathos And Logos Jefferson's Declaration Of Independence

In 1775, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richmond, Patrick Henry wrote “Speech in the Virginia Convention,” for the President of Virginia, Peyton Randolph, to convince the delegates to secede from Britain; moreover, to fight back against them. This speech incorporates great rhetorical strategies that Henry emphasizes to make a clear and concise point. These rhetorical strategies will help receive a better perspective for seeking American Independence. In his speech, Henry analyzes allusions and repetitions to overcome a troublesome problem that foreshadows America. Ethos and allusion are similar because both strategies represent credibility for an event or person.

Within Benjamin Banneker’s letter to Thomas Jefferson, he employs pathos in order to persuade Jefferson to use his political platform to end the injustices of slavery. Through this, Banneker is pointing out the hypocrisy of Jefferson’s actions by comparing the situation of slaves to the oppression the colonists faced under tyrannical British rule. He employs pathos with the use of diction and allusions. His poignant and critical diction reflects his caustic attitude of Thomas Jefferson. Banneker alludes to the Declaration of Independence to appeal to Jefferson’s ideas of inalienable rights for all men protected through liberty from British power.

In his book, Garry Wills attempt to tell the story, or stories of the American Declaration of Independence. He begins by talking about the Continental Congress and how they would arrive at a document that would be the base for their revolution. While Jefferson is accredited to writing the final draft, politics prevailed, important things were left out, and the political ideologies of the delegates was considered. Wills then begins to discuss in more detail, Thomas Jefferson’s original intent concerning the Declaration. He discusses how the ideas are rooted in scientific inquiry and then routed through the moral ideas in order to apply them politically.

Benjamin Bannecker in this excerpt eloquently uses a fine-tuned balance of Pathos, Logos and Ethos to mould a thought-provoking argument to Thomas Jefferson against slavery. Banneker uses Pathos and emotional appeal consistently throughout his writing by attempting to draw parallels between the subjugation of Jefferson under the British Crown (lines 1-5) and the oppression of slaves by their masters (lines 45-47) to communicate the feelings of his persecuted brothers which Jefferson might sympathize with having experienced oppression by an outsider himself. Moreover, he strives to establish a sentiment of love and empathy towards one another and for Jefferson’s heart to be “enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards them”, referring to

“Most men today cannot conceive of a freedom that does not involve somebody's slavery.” (W.E.B Du Bois). When asked about slavery, the majority of Americans in our day and age have a basic understanding of it’s history and how horrible it was. However, to Benjamin Banneker, it was much more personal. Banneker, born from a long line of slaves, defied the odds and became a successful scholar and activist.

When Jefferson attempts to point out the dangers of a government that can crush and disassemble insurrection and rebellion, he refers to “England where the hand of power is heavier than with us, there are seldom half a dozen years without rebellion”. Jefferson using these metaphors has a very powerful effect on Madison’s fears by reminding him of the problems that arose under the rule of the British Tyranny on the thirteen colonies that they had to work so hard to succeed from. When combining these messages with the metaphors about tyranny of the British Empire, Jefferson is building a cloud of fear and dread by saying that they could end up just like the oppressive hand of the British crown. [Second point remains the same]. Therefore through Jefferson’s use of metaphors and euphemisms, he is able to tap into Madison’s emotions, and remind him of everything he has ever feared may come true if Jefferson’s wishes do not come

“The Declaration of independence” By Thomas Jefferson: rhetorical In Thomas Jefferson's captivating and persuasive document” The declaration of Independence” written on July 4, 1776, Jefferson distinctly vocalizes and emotionally adheres to the reader's emotions by using the rhetorical devices of alliteration and repetition to create allies and justify his desires for a newly independent country. Thomas Jefferson establishes himself as a credible writer by presenting the truths and controversial topics about the King of Britain. Jefferson accomplishes this by stating the reasons why he's trying to push for independence from Britain. He assures the readers by making sure it's known that he isn't pushing for independence for any random reason,

Banneker uses logos, anaphora, pathos, and juxtaposition to create a respectful but critical tone, with phrases such as “freedom and tranquility”, his repetition of “sir” and his continued treatment of Jefferson as a student who has the knowledge but is not applying themselves. Banneker’s tone throughout the letter is that of great respect for Jefferson as a person, and as an equal, but little respect for his opinions and use of power such as in the Declaration of Independence. He uses logos to emphasize this earnest respect that he has with sentences like “I suppose your knowledge of the situation of my brethren is too extensive to need a recital here”, where he uses logos to both point out that he knows Jefferson has the knowledge, but

Declaration of Independence Precis Thomas Jefferson in his historical document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), asserts that the colonies should break free from Britain’s tyranny. Jefferson supports his assertion through the use of anaphora, parallel structure, imagery, emotional appeal to patriotism, and logical appeal to the colonist’s basic rights. Jefferson’s purpose is to advocate for the separation of Britain and the colonies in order to escape the British tyranny that King George imposes on the American colonists. Jefferson writes in a measured tone for the British parliament, King George, and for colonists who have been a victim of Britain’s oppression.

The Declaration of Independence is an extremely important document to the United States. Thomas Jefferson receives the most credit for writing the declaration, however he was assisted by five other men that were apart of the Constitutional Congress. They wrote the declaration to persuade the colonist to break free from Britain. The Declaration of Independence uses numerous persuasive appeals and language, including parallelism, pathos, and ethos. Parallelism is “a pattern in writing in which words and phrases are similar in structure, one echoing another.”

Thomas Paine uses logos to persuade his opinion on having the people support the army more in, he use facts, logic and reason to appeal to the people, whom knew many words that most of the people today do not. A way he shows logos is in “They sift out the hidden thought of man, and hold them up in public to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head, that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which Howe arrived upon the Delaware.”, basically saying that the Tories and British has to hide in order to survive from the Americans, and that they will regret the decisions Howe has put upon them. In the next example that shows logos, Paine presents the Tories are wimps, for they will not join the Revolution and take

Thomas Jefferson wrote this document that the declared the thirteen American colonies then at war with Great Britain were no longer under British rules. The colonies became independent states. Their purpose was to create an ideological nation because in an ideological nation the people and the government are hold together by a set of ideas. The solution that the Declaration of independence declared that all people have inalienable rights, requiring life, liberty, and

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. This statement by the Founding Fathers is the core disagreement between the 13 Colonies and Great Britain. Throughout this historical document, there are multiple arguments made to get the authors’ point across. The authors’ effectively use logos, ethos, and pathos to contribute to the formation of the concluding argument. Logos is used because the thesis is straight to the point and it is supported throughout the entire document.

Jefferson explains some of the King’s actions to make them submit to him. These are some of the reason why the Colonist have decided to break their bonds with Britain. Another example is: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That 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 to abolish it.

Letting the reader know the purpose behind “The Declaration of Independence” and the reason it was made. He then follows this with a description of why the colonies need to break away from Great Britain and start to rely on God. It starts to become clear to the reader that the colonist need to gain their own rights and find happiness. That is one thing that Thomas Jefferson was giving to the people a chance of prosperity and hope. Because for so long they were beaten down and oppressed.