Patrick Henry Speech Essay

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An Unavoidable Occurrence
When unjust rules oppress the lives of people, it is only natural that people revolt against that government. As the British placed their restrictive laws upon the American colonists, patriotic Americans grew mutinous and fought against the British laws. While some remained loyal to the British Parliament to avoid treason, others were passionate and rebelled against the
British, who saw their actions as pugnacious crimes. In Patrick Henry’s speech, Henry attempted to persuade the president to prepare for the unavoidable war against the British after his attempts to achieve reconcilement failed.
Henry anticipated a war coming with the British because all their methods to mediate with the British failed. They resorted to drastic measures to avoid this war, but their efforts were in vain as “[their remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; their supplications have been disregarded; and [they] have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne.” This emotionally affects all listeners as they feel inspired by his words because they too experienced the cruelty of the British. It sparked passion within the patriots to fight back because even though they all pleaded for forgiveness, the British showed no mercy and sent their army and navy to America in response. As a result, the Americans felt obliged to begin preparations for war. With the departure of British ships and soldiers, Henry knew the British were about to take a dramatic course to subdue the mutinous colonists. He believed they were “sent to bind and rivet [them] [on] those chains which the British ministry [had] been so long forging.” Henry correlated their situation to slavery because he knew other listeners would not wish to experience the oppression slaves face. Since the colonists themselves knew how restrictive slavery was,

being slaves for the British was not something they strived to become. Henry’s message left the colonists with a crucial decision to join Henry in his pursuit of freedom or remain enslaved to the
British Empire.
Henry urged the president to prepare for war as he stated the people’s cause as a will of the “majesty of heaven.” In order to persuade the president to begin preparations, he united the colonists by with the proclamation that they were “three million
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