How Does Thomas Jefferson Use Ethos In The Declaration Of Independence

In the “Declaration of Independence” by Thomas Jefferson, Jefferson uses rhetorical features such as repetition to write an effective argument by disempowering King George and reminding the colonist how King George ruined their lives. For instance, Jefferson states, “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” Jefferson uses repetition to emphasize the word “our” to illustrate how the King George has ruined their lives. He uses the word “our” in an assertive way to express the scandalous operations King George has conducted to improve his being while worsening the lives of the colonist. Jefferson uses rhetorical features to convince the colonist that King George does not have

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 American colonies were justified in waging war and breaking away from Britain because the British Parliament was over taxing the colonists. In document B it states, “The raising of revenues was never intended, Never did the British Parliament, (until the passage of the Stamp Act) think of imposing duties in America for the purpose of raising revenue.” This textual evidence show that some colonists felt

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.

-It it clear and reasonable that the declaration was made for many causes that weren’t being attended because of the British thinking that even the lowest class in the military was above the civil law of the colonies, and that no one should immigrate to such a place, taking away so many laws from the people making them pay high taxes well mainly the rich for the lands they owned which was good in a way but for all those who wrote the declaration that mainly had a lot of land it was horrible, but for the poor folk it was good in a way but not even for the poorest of peasants to be able to trade with other merchants from other countries ruined the economy in the colonies. Great Britain was the only country and place they could and would trade to it was illegal for the colonists to be able to make money by trading their raw material with any other country.

Last of all, the ideological relations between Britain and the American colonies were altered because of the French and Indian War. The relationship between the American colonies and Britain is becoming more strained because the cost for the war (on Britain’s side) and the needs of the colonists. In Document D, a Massachusetts soldier writes in his diary about his regiment being treated poorly or “like slaves.” It was believed that once they completed their duty, they would be able to return home but this wasn’t the case. Therefore, doubt started to arise in the colonists. They began to question whether Britain was going to do what was best for them. Another way the colonists’ relationship with Britain was being strained was through the taxes that Britain imposed on the colonists after the war (Stamp Act). Benjamin Franklin, in Document G, writes to John Hughs encouraging him to play both sides; appease to the colonists but also stay loyal to the King until they can repeal the Stamp Act. This is just the beginning and the bottom line is that Britain feels like the colonists owe them after the war. The colonists aren’t happy with this as they were promised land that the Proclamation of

The fight for American independence was a long, arduous struggle, but many great literary works aided the battle. One such example is Patrick Henry’s “Speech in the Virginia Convention”. Given in 1775 at the Virginia Provincial Convention, Henry aims to convince listeners of the futility of peace with Britain, and that they should join the efforts for the inevitable war. To accomplish this, Henry uses many different persuasive techniques and rhetorical devices. In Patrick Henry’s “Speech”, Henry uses techniques such as rhetorical questions, allusion, and emotional appeal to convey the point that the United States must rebel against Britain.

There are many different ways that writer tries to connect to their audience or try to get their point across. The three major ways a writer does this is through ethos, pathos, and logos. Ethos is any way the writer takes a reference or a quote from an expert with the same point of view as them to help build their own credibility. Pathos is words that can completely change the way the reader feels about certain way about a topic. Logos is anything that is logical and can be proven by statistics.

The Declaration of Independence was written for the purpose of separating the American colonies from the British Empire. In context of history, The Declaration was the first step into a modern representative democracy. In addition, the makers of the declaration, primarily Thomas Jefferson, constructed an argument to state the problems they had with Britain and tell how the new American government was going to deal with the problems. The argument Jefferson constructed was one made with all the wrong evidence; however, he built the argument in such a way to rally a people for war. The Declaration of Independence is a well-written example of argument and persuasion with its use of structure as a whole, use of specific fallacies, and use of appeals.

“A treasure that we should continually use for our decisions on the new challenges we face.”(Esposito) Frank J. Esposito echos the purpose of The Declaration of Independence(DOI)in this new era and how it should be implemented in a modern government. The DOI is the most influential piece of writing that has ever come to be. It served it’s purpose in 1777 by uniting the colonists against Great Britain in a bold declaration of independence. This persuasive essay was written by Thomas Jefferson and edited by important figures, which are now known as the founding fathers. Not only, is the DOI an important part of history, but it has also become the model for many other persuasive writings. Thomas Jefferson used techniques like siding with the acrimonious reader, considering the historical precedent and the conceding of a point, to create a compelling argument to persuade the reader’s of The Declaration of Independence.

This particular section also plays an especially vital role in declaring the independence from Great Britain as it clearly lays out all of the usurpations the King has committed. When analyzing this segment in particular, it should be noted that this section has a strategic organization in itself as the list of usurpations increases with severity as the list goes on. Expanding upon the organization of this portion of the document, there seems to be a segmentation of the listed abuses. The first section addresses the diminishment of a representative government, and explains how the tyranny of the King has replaced such a system. The following group of accusations include the restrictions the monarch has placed on the colonies’ ability to self-govern. Finally, the last few grievances depict the barbaric nature of the King’s rule, and explain that he has waged war upon the colonies. An abuse that addresses such cruelty is given in the following quote: “HE has constrained our fellow Citizens taken to Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their Friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.” Succeeding the long list of the King’s exploitations are the last two paragraphs of the document, which make up the

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

“Vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty”(Hamilton). Alexander Hamilton(1755-1804) was a prominent founding father and wrote a collection of essays with James Madison and John Jay called the Federalist Papers. Hamilton believed in a strong central government, and wrote these essays to persuade the ratification of the Constitution. Historically, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson( were fierce opponents in politics with having completely different visions for the future of America, they agreed on the central goal of government. In The Declaration of Independence (DOI), Jefferson’s goal was to persuade his british readers that the American colonies were separating from the British Empire, and that the colonists had no choice. In The Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson challenges his audience’s beliefs through the use of persuasive techniques.

He states that all people have rights guaranteed by their Creator, that it is the role of government to protect those rights, and that when it does not, “it is their right, it is their duty,” to alter or abolish that government. He cautions again, using ethos, that “Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes, meaning that the grievances of the colonist regarding the King’s abuses must be so great that it is necessary to take action” (Jefferson, 1776). He ends the paragraph with a direct accusation against the king, stating that “The history of the present King of Britain is a history of injuries and usurpations,” and then leads into a list of “facts” that will persuade his audience of the truth of these

Then, he states that long established governments should not be changed, but when there is a history of the king abusing power, it’s the people’s right to revolt against their government. The next part, he begins listing off the “repeated injuries” as a reason for independence. They range from Legislation to judicial rule to not protecting the states. They petitioned for change, but never got it.