Rhetorical Strategies Used In Patrick Henry's Speech

    In Henry’s speech, he first sets the stage by using a proud tone while explaining the importance of war with Britain. His illustrious delivery of the speech itself is very moving, as the efforts to convince America to settle on the side of war. He goes on to convey, “Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of  those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power” (Henry 38). His tone of taking charge and only accepting the best from his country supports the claim that Henry is indeed the proud man he is. Henry also in his speech uses an enlightening tone to inspire his crowd he uses terms to explain how he will settle for only the best for the country. He uses phrases such as, “The war is inevitable-and let it come!” (38). This phrase brings up the emotion of the crowd as they believe in war, and Henry himself is full of power as he enforces that war must go on. He uses such enthusiasm and inspiration to uplift himself and the crowd to ensure that war is necessary. Overall, Henry;s tone of the proudness and

He tried to empower the audience with the idea of religion, having reassured them that God gave them power and they were not weak. He then attempted to use this empowerment to convince that a correct way to use their God-given power was to act against Britain, implying this through the current argument and his stance on the issue. He emphasized this with contradictory words of “weak” and “power” to make it more important in the audience's mind. As a whole, the statement is used to give them feelings of pride toward their country and powerful in the eyes of God. As a result, Henry used the ideas of nationalism and religion to emphasize and create a feeling of patriotism.

Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?” This effectively puts the audience into a panic of a future under the British, luring them more into Henry’s ideas of war. The audience, already hyped from their boosted sense of independence since the beginning of the speech, is now completely vulnerable to Henry’s words.

In his speech, Henry uses rhetorical devices to suggest that Americans need to join the cause for the looming war. The first use of rhetorical questioning occurs about halfway into his speech, when he proposes, “…what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us into submission?” (Henry 102). During this timeframe, Britain sent in troops to quiet the rebellious acts of the citizens, such as the Boston Tea Party, where Americans dumped 10,000 pounds of British tea into Boston Harbor. In this quote, Henry takes a different perspective, implying that the British sent these troops in to submiss the colonies, to keep them firmly under British control. This affects his audience by making them feel inferior to the British. Towards the end of his speech, Henry mentions that, “Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle?” (Henry 103). Henry refers to the open resistance in Massachusetts, and the people already fighting for independence. In his rhetorical question, Henry probes why most Americans stand by while others actively participate. This proves his point that America must go to war immediately, and that some already agree with him. These rhetorical questions are just two examples of Henry using literary techniques to convince listeners to go to war with Great Britain.

Immediately as the speech begins, Henry’s tone manifests itself and remains unwavering. Henry begins, “It is natural for a man to indulge in the illustration of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth” (1). This sheds insight on his message and portrays him as a well versed individual. He then strengthens his tone when he says

Furthermore, Henry uses a mass of rhetorical questions to agitate his audience. He expressed his resentful aspects toward Britain.

Henry demonstrated his use of Pathos by demonstrating how much of a threat Britain can pose for the U.S. He mentioned the “gentlemen” still lament for peace, but warns the audience to be vigilant by telling us “Our brethren are already in the field!” and “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!” Henry also bashes the people who were oblivious to the impending war by telling of how the British already taunted them of being weak and “unable to cope with so formidable an adversary”. Another Pathos acknowledgement

He makes references like,”...listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts.” This is referring to the story of Odyssey. In this story, the sirens would lure sailors to their deaths. He used this allusion because he felt the British was luring the colonists into slavery. A biblical allusion that Henry refers to is Mark 8:18, Henry said,”...those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not…” In Mark 8:18 this same phrase is stated, just a little differently. It is said as follows, “Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?”This allusion shows that the colonists do not understand what is going to happen if they do not act. One last allusion found in Henry’s speech is, “...different men often see the same subject in different lights…” He used the world light to show that his view is aligned with god’s purpose. These allusions helped relate his views to the bible and literary stories, which urged the crowd to comply with

Patrick Henry utilizes rhetorical devices throughout his “Speech in the Virginia Convention” to advocate the fact that the thirteen colonies must approach Britain with violence in order to secede successfully from Britain’s absolute power over Americas independency.

By utilizing the image of God being on their side, Henry is able to influence the audience into questioning their current strategies. He uses emotional words, phrases, and implications in each paragraph that connect to God in some way, strengthening his argument that his views are faultless. He respectfully conveys that by lacking war and not fighting Britain, they are displeasing God. “I consider it nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery” refers to the colonists’ need to fight. The powerful words “freedom” and “slavery” contradict each other as they bring both fear and joy to the audience as it portrays their future outcome, depending on what action they take right now.

Have you ever needed to persuade someone, to change or make them understand the correct viewpoint on the current situation? Within Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention,” he persuaded the colonists to go to war with Britain by using rhetorical techniques being, imagery, repetition, rhetorical questions, and appealing to ethos. Using these techniques, he paints a picture of why to go to war, enforces an idea into their mind, makes them question their own ideas, and convinces them that the Speaker is the one they should listen to. While Patrick Henry proclaimed his point of view towards the representatives, he uses imagery, to paint a picture in the representatives to think about not going to war versus going. Within this quote, an example is shown of how Patrick Henry uses imagery.

Patrick Henry, a self-taught lawyer, delivers a speech to 122 delegates in Richmond, Virginia spelling out to the delegates why they need to revolt. Patrick Henry uses multiple rhetorical devices to spell out his reasoning for the need of a revolution such as rhetorical questions, allusions, and diction.

Henry began his speech by emphasizing that although he is patriotic towards Britain, he has a different view on how to handle conflict with them. One of his most genius strategies is not discrediting the audience’s views, but delicately showing them a different one. “Different men often see the same subject in different lights” Henry builds ethos by expressing a religious passion. He shows himself as a Christian fighting for god. Henry attempts to show the illusion of hope by being the bearer of bad news.

He also uses rhetorical devices, such as; rhetorical questions, and parallelism. He uses these to make his speech professional, and more persuasive. He then used repetition to make his points clearer, and more enforced. He ties all these together, and creates a speech that appeals to everyone, and reveals his thoughts on how we should handle the conflict with Great Britain. Henry does this in a mature, and polite matter to get his point across without offending