This document provides a summary of Patrick Henry's famous speech to the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775 arguing in favor of mobilizing forces against the growing British military presence in the colonies. The summary outlines Henry's use of rhetorical techniques like repetition, improvisation, and rhetorical questioning to make a compelling case for war. It also briefly discusses the historical context of rising tensions between the colonies and Britain leading up to the American Revolution.

1. San Marcos University
School: Education
Teacher: Yony Cárdenas Cornelio
Student: Guadalupe Roque Polo
December 3rd, 2011

2. Patrick Henry
(1736-1799)

3. Biography
EARLY YEARS AMERICAN REVOLUTION LATE YEARS
• Henry was born in • Patrick Henry is best • After the Revolution,
Studley, Hanover County, known for the speech he Henry again served as
Virginia in 1736. made in the House of governor of Virginia from
• Henry attended local Burgesses on March 1784 to 1786, but
schools for a few years, 23, 1775, in Saint John's declined to attend the
and then was tutored by Church in Constitutional Convention
his father. Richmond, Virginia. of 1787 .
• After failing in business, • The aim was to discuss • Henry was an outspoken
in 1754 he married Sarah the British military critic of the United States
Shelto. buildup in America. Constitution.
• Henry argued in favor of
mobilization.

4. Speech in the Virginia Convention
Patrick Henry

5. Literary focus: Oratory
RHETORICAL
REPETITION IMPROVISATION
QUESTION
• A question that the • It is the simple • Skill of speaking
speaker really does repeating of a word, without reading
not intend as a within a sentence or word for word from a
question or one that a poetical line, with written text.
he means to answer no particular
himself. placement of the
• Shall we try words, in order to
argument? emphasize.
• We must fight! I
repeat it, sir, we must
fight!

6. Historical Context
• The colonies in North America
first rejected the authority of the
Parliament of Great Britain to
govern them from overseas
without representation, and then
expelled all royal officials.
• By 1774 each colony had
established a Provincial Congress,
or an equivalent governmental
institution, to form individual
self-governing states, but still
within the empire. The British
responded by sending combat
troops to re-impose direct rule.

7. Summary
• Pactrick Henry successfully and compellingly
articulated his support for war with Great Britain
through well-organized, thorough arguments and
effective use of simile, personification, logical
reasoning, rhetorical questioning, and emotional
appeal.
• He has the most balance in his speech compared
to both Paine's and Jefferson's writing because he
pivots on a central points of logos on one side
and ethos and pathos on the other.

8. Main points
The war with England It is natural for gentlemen
was inevitable and the to hope for peace, but
longer they waited the asserts that there is a
harder the war would time for peace, but that
be to win. time has passed.
While America is
working for love and
reconciliation, England
is sending fleets and
armies.

9. Ethos
"LOVE AND RECONCILIATION"
• The cultural context of Henry's speech is that
the war has already started and he is urging
the Virginia Convention to vote to take up
arms against the British.
"those who have eyes, do not see, and those
with ears, do not hear, the things which so
nearly concern their temporal salvation."

10. Pathos
• Henry shows that it is wrong to relay on hope
and it is the ethical thing to take up arms.
"It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive
at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility
which we hold to God and our country."

11. Logos
• The logos contribution of Henry's address
makes use of solid facts to convince the
people of Virginia that fighting or slavery are
the only possible outcomes of their meeting.
"Are fleets and armies necessary to work a love
and reconciliation?"
"We have remonstrated; we have supplicated;
we have prostrated ourselves."