Examples Of Ethos In The Declaration Of Independence

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In the persuasive works of revolutionary writers, there are many examples of rhetorical appeals that have been used to persuade an audience to agree with, or feel strongly about an idea. It takes a very talented writer to persuade an entire country to believe so strongly that they have the right to independence, that they are willing to go to war and die just to have a taste it. In The Declaration of Independence, by Thomas Jefferson, uses the rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos to persuade the world and the colonies that the king of Great Britain is a tyrant, and that the colonies have suffered for long enough and deserve to be a free and independent nation.

The Declaration of Independence has strong ethos appeals because …show more content…
The founding fathers decided that all men have certain undeniable rights, these are “our [right to] life liberty and the pursuit of happiness”, and any man living in the united states has the right to pursue these ideals. (Paragraph 2) What this is saying is that any man can pursue his dreams in the united states and no one can take that away from them. This helps the argument of this document because it is stating the ideals behind this are what people deserve and now that have the right to achieve. Another example of pathos is when it is said that whenever any ‘form of Government becomes [too] destructive, it [becomes] the right of the people to alter or abolish it.” (Paragraph 2) This shows pathos because it is stating that all men have their rights and they these rights are going to be enforced in the new country. Since the king is destructive towards the colonies the people of the colonies have the right and obligation to stand up to him and abolish his reign. A last example of pathos is when it is stated that, ‘these United colonies are, free and independent states, [and] are absolved from allegiance to the British crown”, which is saying that these colonies cannot be denied freedom anymore. (Paragraph 32) This is pathos because the people of the colonies have the right to be done with being loyal to the …show more content…
An example of logos is that the king “has made judges dependent on his will alone [...] for the payment of their salaries“ because he gets to decide what they are paid based on if they do what he wants or not. (Paragraph 11) This is logos because it is a clear fact that, the king is manipulating the judges that he is sent to the colonies so that the justice system will rule in his favor. Pointing out that the king is paying the judges based on how well they do his bidding is only adding to the people's resentment towards him. The king also created many “new offices, and sent [...] [his own ]officers to harass are people” in the colonies so the do what the king commands. (Paragraph 12) This statement shows logos because the people that are holding the new offices made by the king in the colonies were only sent to harass the US people and take anything they wanted. The king only made these new offices so he can control the people who occupy them, this way he could know for sure that his will is being enforced. A final example of logos is that the king cut ‘off [the colonies] trade with all parts of the world”, making sure that the colonist couldn't provide for themselves. (Paragraph 18) this is logos because it is a direct fact that the colonies couldn't trade, which would leave them
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