Patrick Henry Speech Rhetorical Analysis

How would you feel if your parents refused to listen to you? That feeling of anger and helplessness you would feel in this situation is the same way the colonists felt when their attempts at reconciling with Great Britain were ignored. Sir Patrick Henry uses the rhetorical strategies – logos, ethos, and pathos – as a way to convey his argument to the patriots in hopes of rallying them against Great Britain. Henry’s use of these strategies was effective because the colonies bounded together and fought against Great Britain. Patrick Henry’s speech to the Virginia House of Burgess, Richmond, Virginia March 23, 1775, utilizes the rhetorical strategy of logos in order to convince the patriots of Virginia that war was the only option they had left. Henry uses logos throughout his speech as a way to convey the reality of the situation that the colonists are trying to avoid. The quote “Has Great Britain any enemy, …show more content…
The quote “we have done everything that could be done” is used to express pathos. This is because Henry is stating that they have done everything in their abilities without resorting to violence and now that was their last choice before slavery. Henry also uses the parallelism of “we have” to validate all the colonist have done in attempts to resolve the issue with Great Britain to no avail. This phrase and quote would suggest to the reader that there is no longer room for hope and all the colonists could do was fight. Patrick Henry uses logos, ethos, and pathos to convey his argument to the patriots in hopes of getting them to take up arms against Great Britain. His use of these strategies helped to rally the patriots against Great Britain and led to the freedom Americans know today. So maybe next time your parents are being unfair, rally your siblings against