SOAPST: "Speech in the Virginia Convention" by Patrick Henry

Patrick Henry gave a speech during the American revolution to gather up an army to face the British. The main purpose of the speech was to persuade people to realize that there is going to be a war and that they do have to fight. There was no turning back; it came down to being treated as slaves or freeing themselves. If they did not fight, the British would not just forgive them, they would use them as slaves. Because of this, the only logical thing to do would be to fight. This theory was what Henry tried to make people accept. He wanted to inspire people to fight for liberty. During his speech, Henry was keen on addressing the President, but he was also speaking to the rest of the congressmen and the people of the, soon to be, United States. Because he was speaking to higher officials, his tone was scholarly and diplomatic, but towards the end he sounded more demanding and enthusiastic to "pump up" the audience and to make them fight for their rights and their freedom.