Persuasion In Patrick Henry's Speech To The Virginia Convention

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an appeal to their emotions would rouse them
against the British for the moment, emotions are short-lived and their
endurance would depend on proof. Henry asks, "are fleets and armies
necessary to a work of love and reconciliation?" "what means this martial
array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission?" By using the
literary device of the rhetorical question, Henry attempts to pull his
audience into his speech and show how obvious the need for the colonists to
arm themselves against the British was. Not only did Henry have to provide
evidence that opposing the British forces was absolutely necessary, but he
had to refute the arguments for peace made by his fellow Convention members.
Henry cites that although King George III may have seemed to be complying
with the colonists by retracting the new tax! ation laws conditionally in
response to the First Continental Congress'protest, his actions do not
"comport with these warlike preparations." Henry points out that ...

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