Patrick Henry delivered this speech on March 23, 1775 to the Second Virginia Convention at St. It was pre-revolutionary war and Henry is displaying his feelings that the war against England is coming and in process and he is tired of their control and is ready for America to break free.
The ethos of the speech is one of credibility. Patrick Henry was well renowned for his oratorical skills as an attorney and in the House of Burgesses for previous challenging things. After the colonies seceded from England he was offered many high positions, such as: Secretary of State under Washington, serving as first Governor of Virginia, Service as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and a mission to France. He had the audience's interest at heart because he was talking for the good of the United States of America and the citizens. He wanted what was best for the nation: freedom from England.
The speech had a lot of pathos in it too. Henry talks to the House with a lot of emotion and he uses it very freely. He first addresses the audience telling the House that it is his own personal feelings and no one should be offended by it, "No man thinks more highly than I do of patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights." He uses emotional words such as hope, painful truth, engaged, and give me. He uses "we" and "yourselves" many times to allow the audience to know that he is one of them and wants to know what they feel on the same subject, " But When shall we be stronger?". .
The logos of the speech comes with many evidences that prove that the United States needs to take action in order to no longer be under control of England. He says that they are in a struggle for liberty and need to fight for it, "In this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous battle for liberty?" He states that they have been trying to gain full freedom for ten years and that it has been long enough and nothing will change, "We have been trying that for the last ten years.
