Thomas Jefferson and other intellectual thinkers gathered together in the Second Continental Congress meeting at the Pennsylvania State House to write the Declaration of Independence. This document was published on July 4, 1776 stating that the colonies were independent from Great Britain, and mentioned the basic rights and liberties for Americans. In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson’s purpose is to announce the separation of the thirteen colonies from Great Britain. Jefferson’s use of different rhetorical strategies such as ethos, logos, and diction to help him to develop his argument by providing facts about Great Britain’s actions and showing empathy for the colonists. Thomas Jefferson’s use of ethos helps him develop his argument about the thirteen colonies separating from Great Britain and also gives the audience a sense of trust in him. In the declaration he lists all the grievances that the colonists had against the British and what he thought was unjust. When he talks about the “Course of human events” he goes on stating that “… the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that …show more content…
As a result, the colonists can separate themselves from the British. Jefferson argues that “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” (8-11). His use of logos impacts the thirteen colonies because he provides reasoning that all men are born with certain “unalienable” rights that cannot be taken away by any means. By stating this, this gives the colonists more of a reason as to why they should be forming their own government and keep these
Jefferson's use of ethos is a major reason for the colonists using the Declaration of Independence as their own. “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.” Jefferson points out the fact that the king has undermined the colonists officers and has set troops to eat out their food stuffs. “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” Jefferson says that the king has ruined the colonists way of life and must be stopped. “In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” He uses logos by telling the people that they have tried to fix their problems peacefully but the king does not listen to their pleas. Overall Thomas Jefferson’s use of ethos and logos is the driving force behind his argument on whether or not the colonists should be independent or
In his document, The Declaration of Independence (1776), Jefferson and the representatives in the general congress proclaim that because all men possess unalienable rights, and due to the transgressions committed by the repressive British King against the people of the 13 colonies, the colonists should be entitled to dissolve all allegiance to the crown of Great Britain, and engender a new nation that “[has] full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do”(4). Jefferson supports this proclamation by enumerating the rights of people when both facing and not facing a corrupt government, distinguishing the copious actions of King George
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, the author and American founding father declares to the colonists their separation from Great Britain. The Declaration was published on July 4, 1776 by the Second Continental Congress in response to King George the III abuses and grievances to the thirteen colonies. Jefferson uses of loaded language, ethos, and pathos in order to strengthen and clarify his position to the colonists.
In The Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson, uses ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade the world leaders to let the United States be a free country to break away from the power of the king. In this essay we will see how he used the three from logos stating fact of what the king has done wrong, pathos appealing to the world's emotions with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and ethos letting the world know that they have the right to question anything about government or whatever they feel like they should question.
The product of patriotism and diligent acts, a country truly defined by its individuality and unmistakable glory. These few but finest accomplishments were significantly dependent on the document, the one that transformed the true value of what we have become as an independent country: The Declaration of Independence. Many individuals felt a need for change when being governed by the British. Some of these individuals included our Founding Fathers who created this document to make known that the thirteen colonies would fight independently and eradicate being ruled under Great Britain. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson uses allusions, parallelism as well as anaphora to express the struggle and fight for singularity and
1B) The Declaration of Independence uses several rhetorical strategies, making the argumentative testament of the wrongdoings of the king an effective in pursuing equality for all men. Jefferson utilizes logos, pathos and ethos to prove his point to the country holding their liberty prisoner. Jefferson’s use of logos begins with stating the obvious reason the king should set the people free: the people have the right to the pursuit of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” (2). The King has not done good to the people, in fact he has refused to pass the laws necessary to create order, dissolved representative houses, cut off trade, and imposed unlawful taxes upon the people. They have the basic human rights given to them by God that should set them free from the tyrannical king. Some of the emotional side of Jefferson’s views slip into this argument, such as "mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable" (5). While stating further wrongdoings, Jefferson’s use of pathos increases, raising the rage of the republic at the injustice of the rules they have been subjected to. “He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation” (26). Jefferson calls for a sense of empathy from the crown and establishes a sense of severe discontent
The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson calls for the separation of the American colonies from British rule and King George III. Jefferson’s purpose is to justify his acts and declare the colonies independent from the British rule.He is able to achieve his purpose through the use of ethos and logos.
When looking at the Declaration of Independence and the justifications which Jefferson used in order to encourage the dissolve of the ties between the United Colonies and Great Britain, it becomes apparent how much of the theories of John Locke that Jefferson used as the basis for his argument. Focusing particularly on the second paragraph of the Declaration, the arguments for the equality of each man and the formation and destruction of governments come almost directly from Locke's Second Treatise of Government. The other arguments in the Declaration of Independence deal primarily with each citizen's rights and the natural freedoms of all men, two areas that Locke also spent
One reason that The Declaration of Independence was so influential was that Thomas Jefferson’s claims against the King of England were easy to understand and logical. Typical complaints include “For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;” and “For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” Jefferson uses plain language that everyone can understand to point out large injustices done by the king. His statements about the King are short and to the point. He does not waste any words or bore the reader with abstract writing or excess words and thoughts. He goes from one point to the next to the next in such a fashion that the reader’s concentration is never broken. His points are logical and everyone living in the colonies at that time and many people around the world probably had some idea of the incidents behind all his grievances against the king. Jefferson raps up the injustices done by the king by declaring the United Colonies to be free and independent states.
The Declaration of Independence as said by Thomas Jefferson is “an expression of the American Mind”. Jefferson along with John Locke and other English constitutionalist theorists detailed the abuses by George III, brilliantly summarizing the views of the colonist who were seeking distance from England. Many of these grievances were politically shaped, others dealt with the American economy.
As a reader, I found this sentence very powerful, and I’m sure when it was written, it was even more so, seeing as the writers/readers were the ones experiencing the suffering. Another place that Jefferson appealed to pathos was in the last sentence. He says, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” By showing how much everyone is willing to sacrifice (lives, fortunes, and honor), it illustrates the amount of heart and passion that went into this document. Logos of the document: Logic/reason The entire first paragraph is telling the readers why this declaration of independence needs to made in the first place. He states that there is a time when a society needs to break away from its past leader (Britain) and rely on the powers of God and the earth to create a new community. He is using logic to help his readers understand the meaning of this document. He continues to use logos in explaining why this declaration is important as he explains that it will “secure these rights,” which pertain to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Another time, logos is used in the declaration is when Jefferson is addressing all the wrongs the King of Britain did, and he lists them. He presents his evidence very
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, explains to his readers why the colonies chose to abolish Great Britain’s government. His goal is to inform the readers that the government has certain responsibilities to the governed and that the British failed to adhere to its responsibilities to its colonists. His second goal is to justify their actions by explaining why it was not considered treason. By establishing his credibility and appealing to ethos, pathos and logos, Jefferson successfully wrote an informative, impactful, and inspirational document.
Jefferson began the document by explaining that the rights of the Americans had been brutally molested by the unjust King of Britain. Following this accusation, he provided evidence of this abuse by listing not just a mere handful, but 27 grievances that the King had inflicted against the colonies. Lastly, the conclusion of this article publishes and declares that the United Colonies have the right to be freed from the British and that they have the right to govern themselves as any free country does. The strategic organization of the Declaration of Independence allowed the colonies to be powerfully represented by such a clear and prudently worded
“We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom” stated once Dwight D Eisenhower. Thomas Jefferson, the father of our Declaration of Independence, had the same mentality as him in seeking for freedom. Jefferson decided to write this document as a way of declaring the independence of the United States from Britain. In the document, he states all the harm that Britain has done to the colonists: socially, mentally, and economically. Jefferson just like the colonist wanted peace in their lives, and freedom from the tyranny of King George III. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson uses ethos, pathos, and logos in order to justify their reason of separation from Britain.
Before the Declaration of Independence was signed, colonists were treated very unfairly by their mother-countries leader, King George III. King George had not helped the 13 colonies in any way and really only used them to gain wealth for Great Britain and himself. George’s method of gaining wealth from the 13 colonies was that they could only trade to Great Britain, which did not help the 13 colonies expand as a country. Also, he heavily taxed colonists on the western hemisphere because he needed aid to pay off his former war debts. The colonists were not happy about his acts because it gave them little opportunity of expanding their wealth or fortune which, is the main idea of coming to the “New World.” This made colonists very angry now was thickening the hatred for their leader they were now just as motivated as the politicians; resulting in, plenty of change, leading to the American Revolution. Jefferson understood the colonists and he was able to express or summarize their ideas, thoughts, and motivations through the document; “We the People”. Even though the Declaration of Independence was a main contribute to the ending of the American Revolution, the war had lasted an extra five years with Britain. Britain did not want to lose the 13 colonies