Patrick Henry's Address To The Second Virginia Convention

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Pages: 3
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Elie Kern 11H3 AP English
Henry’s Speech Analysis
In the year 1775, Patrick Henry gave a historically significant speech to the Second Virginia Convention in which he criticized Britain while simultaneously attempting to inspire the American people. While this speech is technically addressed to the president of the Second Virginia Convention, Henry is mostly addressing his thoughts to the nation as a whole. Modern historians claim that Henry tended towards demagoguery and propaganda during this speech. Despite it being understandable how historians have come to view Henry’s words this way, there are several strong arguments as to why it was neither demagoguery nor propaganda as well. Patrick Henry was an angry colonist who was an excellent public speaker. The purpose for his speech was to persuade the colonies to start a revolutionary war against Britain. His speech was given in St. John’s Church in Richmond Virginia, in front of the Virginia delegates. He does not write much about his audience, but it is likely that they were god-fearing due to Henry’s references to God throughout the speech. …show more content…
He politely calls those who spoke before him patriots and apologizes that he is about to speak against them. Clearly, he suspects that the audience will have mixed views on what he is about to say. He is well aware that he is about to deliver an opinionated speech that, if misunderstood, could be taken the wrong way. That being said, he openly admits to the controversial nature of the speech he is about to make in order to prepare the listeners. Already, in the earliest section of his speech, he attempts to make clear to the people that he is doing his best to present the people with what he views as facts and allow them interpret it as they
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Words 689 - Pages 3