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Patrick Henry's Argumentative Analysis

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Are the arguments posited by Patrick Henry and Thomas Paine effective? Of course they are, did they not persuade their people to fight against Britain, for their rights. Patrick Henry spoke about a war that had not yet begun, he spoke of it with urgency, as if there was no time to question it. He decided that he needed to get people involved in his speech, he needed people to think about what he was saying, to choose between the good and the bad. Thomas Paine did the same thing, he used emotion to get through the people sitting before him. Thomas Paine spoke of a war that had already begun, he spoke of the war, in the very mix of it. Paine used encouragement, he used guilt, he wanted anyone who had the courage to stand up and fight, no matter who they were. He wanted people to think of it as if there was only one choice and that choice was to fight. In the Speech to the Virginia Convention, Patrick Henry says, “Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, I should consider myself as guilty of treason toward my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven…” Henry says this to …show more content…
Paine brought up God and said that God “will not give up a people”, meaning God will not give up on them. Paine also asks why would they stand and ask for peace when there is Britain who is armed and waiting to attack, Britain who has already started the war against them. This would be a logical rhetorical

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