What do these clips have in

common?• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAlmXkxR5k0

(Avatar)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlrREwJI4so

&feature=related (Pirates of the Caribbean)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLrrBs8JBQo

(Braveheart)

• Speeches1

Unit 1, Part 2: The Right to Be

Free (Age of Reason)

• Part 1: The events that led up to Patrick

Henry’s Speech at the Virginia Convention

and the Declaration of Independence.

• Part 2: Examining the types of persuasion

techniques that Patrick Henry and Thomas

Jefferson used.

2

The Colonists in the early 1700’s

• Years after the British Puritans established colonies in America, and the Salem Witch trials took place in Massachusetts (1692), the American colonists were mostly content to be under British rule.

• However, tensions grew after the French and Indian War.

3

What started the French and Indian War?• France and England had competing claims for land in North

America.

• The French occupied land in the Mid-West, and the British colonies wanted the French to leave.

• The countries also competed over trade issues with the Native Americans in the disputed region.

• This led to the French and Indian War.

4

French and Indian War, continued…

• Colonists fought for the British, while the Native Americans fought for the French.

• The war lasted from 1754-1763.

• The British won, receiving all lands east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans.

5

Resentments Begin…

• Although the British won the war, they were deeply in debt.

• They demanded more revenue from the colonies.

• Colonists were taxed to pay the war cost, which started the resentment of the Colonists against the British.

6

Proclamation of 1763

• Colonists were not allowed to settle the land

they helped win for England.

• In 1763 the British created the Proclamation

of 1763 that prohibited settlement beyond

the Appalachian Mountains.

• While Britain did not intend to harm the

colonists, many colonists took offense at this

order.7

Colonists Begin to Protest• During 1764 – 1765, the British

enforced the Sugar Act, the Currency

Act, the Quartering Act, and the

Stamp Act to tax and put limitations on

the colonists.

• Colonists grew angry and the colonist

merchants began a boycott of British

goods.

• Secret societies began to form such

as the Sons of Liberty to protest.

• Parliament repealed the Stamp Act,

but imposed the Declaration Act,

which gave parliament supreme

authority to govern the colonies. 8

More British Actions

• The British also imposed the Townshend Acts.

• These acts placed taxes on goods such as glass, paper, paint,

lead, and tea.

• In order to enforce the act, British officers use writs of

assistance to enter homes or businesses to search for

smuggled goods.

• Colonists saw the Townshend Acts as a serious threat to their

rights and freedoms.

9

Tools of Protest

10

• To protest the Townshend

Acts, colonists formed

another boycott of British

goods.

• This boycott was formed

by Samuel Adams - leader

of the Sons of Liberty.

• Sons of Liberty pressured

shopkeepers not to sell

imported goods (those

from Britain).

• Daughters of Liberty

called on colonists to

weave their own cloth and

use American products.

The Boston Massacre (March 5,1770)

• A fight between British troops and citizens of Boston (the Patriots) broke out.

• British troops fired on the Patriots, killing 5 people.

• Sons of Liberty called the shooting the Boston Massacre. 11

Boston Tea Party

• The Tea Act of 1773 gave the British East India Company control over

the American tea trade. Protests broke out everywhere.

• December 16, 1773, a group of men disguised as Indians boarded

three tea ships and destroyed 342 chests of tea.

• The colonists thought that the Boston Tea Party would show Britain how

much they opposed taxation without representation.

12

Britain Fights Back• Because of the Boston Tea

Party many in Britain called

for the Americans to “be

knocked about their ears.”

• King George III said, “We

must master them or totally

leave them to themselves

and treat them like aliens.”

• Britain decided to “master”

the colonies and passed a

series of laws to punish the

colonists.

• British called these new laws

the Coercive Acts, but they

were so harsh that the

colonist called them the

Intolerable Acts.13

First Continental Congress

• In September 1774, delegates from all colonies except

Georgia met in Philadelphia.

• The delegates held out hope that they could restore the

colonies’ relationship with Great Britain.

• They sent formal petitions to King George III and the British

people, asking for their rights as British subjects.

14

Second Virginia Provincial Convention

• The colonists met again in

March of 1775 to vote on

whether Virginia should take

up arms to defend against a

feared British attack.

• Patrick Henry, the most

famous orator of the

American Revolution,

delivered a fiery speech to

convince delegates of the

need for armed resistance.15

“Common Sense”

(1776)

16

“Common Sense” was a

pamphlet written by Thomas

Paine that helped convince

thousands of colonists to

support independence from

Great Britain.

Declaration of Independence

• By the spring of 1776, many

colonial Americans believed

that the only solution to the

conflict was to break away

from British rule.

• At the Second Continental

Congress held in

Philadelphia, a five-member

committee was appointed to

draft an official statement of

the reasons for

independence.17

Declaration of Independence, continued…

• Benjamin Franklin, John

Adams, Roger Sherman,

Robert Livingston and Thomas

Jefferson were the appointed

committee.

• Jefferson was chosen to write

the declaration for two

reasons: 1) He was a very

good writer. 2) He was from

Virginia.

• After voting for independence

on July 2, the full Congress

debated the Declaration for

two days, making a few more

changes before adopting it on

July 4. 18

Four Main Parts of the

Declaration of Independence

• Preamble - Announces the reason for the

document.

• Declaration of people’s natural rights and

relationship to government.

• List of unfair acts of George III, the British

king.

• Conclusion that formally states America’s

independence from Britain.19

Changes from the Puritan Age to the

Age of Reason: The Puritan Legacy

• For the Puritans God was in everything.

He was their Creator, Redeemer, Judge

and Helper.

• The American moral fiber is based on the

Puritan beginning in the fear of God and

obedience to Scripture.

• This is the legacy that the Puritans left

behind in their values and literature.

20

Changes from the Puritan Age to the Age of

Reason: The Age of Reason Legacy

• Goal: to gain independence from England

• People during this time period believed that God

was a person who had put Natural Law in the

world to govern it.

• In other words, this is much like a clockmaker

who winds up a clock and then walks away,

leaving it to do what it is designed to do.

• Legacy: Independence from England and the

Constitution of the United States.

21

Part 2: Persuasive Techniques

• What types of persuasion did Patrick

Henry use to urge Americans to fight

against the British?

• What types of persuasion did Thomas

Jefferson use in the Declaration of

Independence?

22

Persuasive Rhetoric

• Rhetoric is the art of communicating ideas.

• Persuasive rhetoric consists of reasoned arguments in favor of

or against particular beliefs or courses of action.

• To be effectively persuasive, a work generally has to engage

both the mind and the emotions of its audience.

• The writer needs to show that his or her position has a firm

moral basis.

• The Declaration of Independence provides examples of the

three basic types of appeals used in persuasive arguments: 1)

logical appeals, 2) emotional appeals, and 3) ethical appeals.

Logical Appeals

• Provide rational arguments to support a claim.

• Example: the assumption that “all men are created

equal” is supported with objective evidence such as the

list of “injuries and usurpations” committed by King

George III.

• A writer can develop an argument 1) deductively, by

beginning with a generalization, or premise, and

proceeding to marshal examples and facts that support it

or 2) inductively by beginning with examples or facts and

proceeding to draw a conclusion from them.24

Emotional Appeals

• Often based on specific examples of suffering or

potential threats.

• Example: Jefferson’s statement that King George is

attempting “to complete the works of death, desolation,

and tyranny.”

• Also include “loaded language” – language that is rich in

connotations and vivid images.

25

Ethical Appeals

• Based on shared moral values or experience.

• Calls forth the audience’s sense of right, justice,

and virtue.

• The author’s credibility is also an element of this

type of appeal.

– Why should the audience listen to this person?

– Why is this person’s opinion valued over another’s?

– How is person’s opinion or experience fit in with the topic

or situation?

26

Ethical Appeals• Example: Jefferson reminded people that

independence was a last resort, after the failure of

other measures: “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.”

– Jefferson is using a sense of justice for his ethical

appeal.

– Also, Jefferson is a credible source because of his

persona as an important political leader of the time

period.

27

Styles of Persuasion – Elevated

Language

• This is the use of formal words and phrases that can

lend a serious tone to a discussion.

• Example: “The powerful empire of nature is no longer

surrounded by prejudice, fanaticism, superstition, and

lies. The flame of truth has dispersed all the clouds of

folly and usurpation.” – Olympe de Gouges

28

Styles of Persuasion –

Rhetorical Questions

• This is the use of questions that don’t require answers.

Writers pose rhetorical questions to show that their

arguments make the answers obvious.

• Example: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be

purchased at the price of chains and slavery?” – Patrick

Henry

29

Styles of Persuasion –

Repetition

• This is repeating a point that tells the audience that it is

especially important.

• It can also be the repetition of a form of expression that

tells the audience that the ideas expressed in the same

way are related.

30

Styles of Persuasion –

Parallelism

• This is a form of repetition; it is used very effectively in

The Declaration of Independence.

• Example: “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.”

31