Logos In Patrick Henry's Speech

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Henry’s Striking Speech
“I am not a Virginian but an American”(Henry 2). During the age of reason, people believed in logic and appealed more to statistics and reason rather than ethics or emotion. People were interested in and aimed for liberty, progress, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state. During the age of reason, people feared the devil. One of the struggles the people went through during this time was the war between the United States and Britain. “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” by Patrick Henry is a persuasive speech written to convince America to fight back against Britain and free Virginia from the British colonial rule using logos. Henry urges the colonists to judge the future based …show more content…

Britain viewed themselves superior to the United States and the American citizens were forced to accept and obey the British colonial rule. It was of great significance for Henry to persuade the colonists with his speech in order for them to take action against Britain and the British rule and that nothing they have done has worked so far. Henry’s speech contains logos by providing logical reasoning as to why we should fight Britain and take back our freedom. He uses logos when he says “What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on”(Henry 3). This quote contains logical reasoning as to why the delegates should agree with him and take action against British rule. Patrick explains that we as Americans are cheating ourselves by holding back and not fighting Britain. Logos appears again when he explains everything Britain has done wrong and that they consider themselves superior to other countries and to keep us in their possession. “They are sent over to blind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forgiving. And what have we done to oppose them?... Sir, we have tried for the last ten years”(Henry 4). This quote was effective and convinced the

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