Patrick Henry's Speech Summary: Give Me Liberty Or Death?

In 1775, American colonists were divided about their relationship to Great Britain. Some were hoping to work out disagreements and remain British subjects. Others, like Patrick Henry, believed that the only choice left was to go to war with Britain. In his speech to fellow Virginian patriots, Henry makes an effort to persuade them into fighting for freedom. Henry uses ethos to convince his audience, sharing his morals and values with everyone so that they appreciate and respect him.

Patrick Henry's speech before the Virginia Congress was crafted to persuade the many men gathered there to listen. He uses several rhetorical devices to accomplish this goal, and he accomplishes it with flying colors. As you read the speech, you can see the desperation poring from Henry's words. "Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded". In this portion of the speech, he uses parallelism to reiterate that America has tried everything to stop this war from happening, but their efforts were to no avail, and it was time to begin fighting.

Patrick Henry wanted Virginia to fight also. Patrick Henry used logos to persuade Virginia to help the other colonies to get freedom from Britain. Patrick Henry needed to convince the Virginians to fight because the colonies needed freedom from the british now. Therefore, In his speech to the Virginia Convention he used logos to remind them of what the British have done to them. “I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience.

Independence, many people struggle and fight to achieve it yet the actual battle is only part of it within this struggle is politics and influence of those who oppose the establishment and only through this influence may a new state rise. 1775, British parliament has recently instituted several unjust laws that colonists of the Americas will coin the intolerable acts war is inevitable but many colonists are still uncomfortable with the idea of fighting their country of origin in order for revolution to be achieved the general populous and the politicians that represent them must be persuaded to either independence or peace. In Patrick Henry's "Speech to the Virginia Convention" he uses allusions and rhetorical questions to appeal to logos and

Imagine living without representation in the government; a world where people are treated like objects without natural rights. This is how the American colonists lived from the mid-1760’s to the mid-1770’s as taxes and acts were placed upon them without any representation in Parliament. This caused tension between England and the colonies, which consequently, after several failed treaties and negotiations, kicked off the American Revolution. On 23 March 1775, Patrick Henry gave his “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention.”

Patrick Henry presented a monumental speech that convinced the Virginia delegates to consider independence from England. Henry’s speech was one of the many catalysts that tilted the once ambivalent and divided mindsets of the colonists about England to a rebellious sentiment. The powerful speech was delivered on March 23, 1775 which called for opposition against the British; the rapid success of the Henry’s speech can be seen by the first military engagements in the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 shortly after the speech was made at the Virginia Convention. In his speech, Henry attempts to persuade the members of the Convention that war with Britain is inevitable and waiting will only make the war more difficult to win.

In 1775, Patrick Henry congregated with commissioners of the second Virginia Convention at St. John’s church in Richmond, in conductive to deliberate the urgency to assemble and organize the national military resources to revolt against the British. Along with 2 other delegates of the Virginia Convention, Richard Henry Lee and Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry bolstered to create the Virginia House of Burgesses to dispute the tumultuous state of the colonies. Henry possessed an extremely prominent role in the success of America’s independence from Britain. Patrick Henry, a passionate and valiant orator, delivered a prolific speech, in which he argued that Americans have no choice but to take up arms against the British parliament by reminding

Give them liberty of give them death! In 1773, Thomas Paine wrote “The American Crisis”, an essay designed to persuade the colonists to separate from Britain. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his “Speech in the Virginia Convention with the same idea. Paine and Henry wanted to persuade the colonists to stand up for their freedom and basic human rights against Britain. The writings of Thomas Paine and Patrick Henry both use metaphors, include rhetorical questions, and serve the same purpose.

The speeches these men brought within society served as inspiration to stand up for themselves whether to create peace or war. As Patrick Henry spoke of the suffering and poverty the people went through, he tried to make a connection of feelings along with giving his listeners the willpower to do something about it. Whereas Kennedy rather stated his actions that were going to be put in place for the good of the people while he was enrolled in office. So the question that’s brought to the table is who achieved more success and persuasion within their speech and who deserved the people’s acceptance of ideas.

Patrick henry uses rhetorical appeals by using God to persuade memebers of the virginia convention to go to war with Britian. He uses pathos, logos, and ethos because he appeasl to peoples emotions and how they feel about going to war with Britain. Henry is a person who fights to get what he wants. He's a man that believes fighting is the only way of getting freedom. Henry is a credible speaker because of this he gets some to agree with him on going to war with Britain, and some still disagree becasue some say they are not ready, they are weak.

In 1775 the American Colonies stood at a tipping point. Britain and the Colonies had been embroiled in a continuing struggle over numerous injustices, and the Colonies seemed at long last situated to engage in a revolution against Britain. However, the colonial representatives were still tied up in negotiations with Britain, and many delegates of the Virginia Convention wanted to delay actions until the negotiations had concluded. Patrick Henry disagreed with the delay, so he addressed the Convention, arguing for the need to mobilize troops against the British, a request tantamount to treason. Instead of shying away from the polarizing nature of his argument, Henry adopted a respectful, but urgent, tone, crafting an argument that would inspire his audience into action.

Rhetorical Analysis Convincing people of something or to do something is not an easy task but Patrick Henry's “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” shows how well someone can persuade people when they trust you, appeal to their emotions, or back up what you are saying with facts...ethos, pathos, and logos. The purpose of this speech is to persuade the colonist to fight against the british. Patrick is talking to the members of the virginia convention and what they need to do to become free. Patrick Henry uses ethos to help convince the audience that he knows what he's talking about and how they should trust him.

During this time, religion was very important so it was very crucial for Patrick Henry to mention this in his speech, because it was a main appeal everyone had in common. Finally, Patrick Henry uses the rhetorical appeal of logos, logic appeal. Mr. Henry uses logos when he says, “...what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission?”. This is a logical analysis, because he points out that there is no other reason for the warlike products, but for the Americans. Another logical point Mr. Henry makes is when he says “...we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on...petitioned...remonstrated...supplicated...and implored its interposition...

With the same purpose of persuasion, the literary device logos is used as a solely logical and factual form of enticement or argumentation, especially in paragraph 13. He uses this “fact of the matter” when he states that the colonies were a force to be reckoned with, “three millions of people, armed with the holy cause of liberty” to be exact. As has been noted all throughout Patrick Henry’s speech, he uses many devices and fallacies to inform his audience of the facts, explain what said facts mean for the country and people, and to persuade and alert their viewpoints; all of this is done magnificently and famously in his “Give Me

The Flamboyant Trumpet “Give me liberty, or give me death.” Patrick Henry, born on May 29th, 1736 in Studley, Virginia, had one of the most memorable speeches of his time. Henry played a major role in the American Revolution. Henry taught by his father and uncle, only received minimal education. He married his first wife, Sarah Shelton in 1754 and together they had six children.