A rhetorical analysis of The Declaration of Independence: persuasive appeals and language
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776. The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united
States of America, When in the Course of human
events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which
have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the
earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of
Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind
requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the
separation. 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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most
likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments
long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and
accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to
suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing
the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a
long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing
invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such
is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of
the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an
absolute Tyranny over these
States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for
the public good. 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. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which
may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. Nor have We
been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We
have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend
an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the
circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to
their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the
ties of our common kindred to disavow
these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and
correspondence. They too have been deaf
to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We
must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation,
and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace
Friends. We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. |
Color keyPersuasive appealsThe appeal to ethos (the standing of the writer or speaker). The appeal to pathos (emotion). The appeal to logos (reason): deductive reasoning and inductive
reasoning. Language analysisDiction (word
choice). Syntax
(sentence structure). Images
(figurative language, imagery, and the like). In the long first sentence of the declaration, the writers set their revolution in the context of human history ("the Course of human events"). In the first sentence of the second
paragraph, the parallel structure and repetition of that enable the
writers to enunciate with great clarity
their fundamental beliefs. The personification of prudence emphasizes how reasonable the writers are. The negative diction about the actions of the British
king and his subjects begins in this paragraph--and
carries an emotional appeal. The long list of grievances reads like
hammer blows because of
the parallel structure and anaphora, the
vilifying verbs, and the choice of other words that
arouse the emotion of the audience. The list climaxes with "He
is"--the only phrase other than "He has" in the list. The present tense lends urgency to the need for revolution;
otherwise, only "death, desolation, and tyranny" await. The two paragraphs following the list of
grievances are packed with effective rhetorical devices that only heighten
the ethical appeal: the writers are
intelligent and eloquent men. Like the second paragraph, the
concluding paragraph relies on parallel structure and repetition of that
in declaring the colonies "Free and Independent States." The climax of the last line effective
portrays the signers as heroes: men who will risk everything to support
the rights of man established by God. |
NARA [National Archives
and Records Administration. Exhibit
Hall. The Declaration of
Independence: A Transcription. 21 Oct.
2002.
<http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/declaration
Analysis
of persuasive appeals