Tyrannical Part of Speech: Adjective Definition: harsh; oppressive (think: like a tyrant) Sentence: In the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, many colonists thought that the British government was extremely tyrannical.

The Road to Independence Date

The French and Indian War War between French and British Colonists fought for British, Native Americans fought with France The British won and received all land east of the Mississippi The colonists were not allowed to settle in the land they helped to win - west of Appalachians were off-limits (Proclamation of 1763) To avoid conflict with Native Americans Colonists were taxed to pay the war cost

Sugar Act Lowered tax on imported molasses Hurt the colonists’ sale of their own molasses

Stamp Act Took effect on November 1, 1765 Taxes for stamps that would be placed on paper products - anything from books, to wills, to playing cards Made colonists very angry... Repealed in 1766

Townsend Acts Taxes on imported goods such as glass, lead, paint, tea, etc. Most of these goods HAD to be imported (no production in the colonies) This led to protests...

The Boston “Massacre” Encounter between British troops and citizens of Boston Colonists antagonized British soldiers Snowball -> soldier -> fired -> 5 colonists dead Propaganda

Tea Act 1773 Permitted the British East India Tea Company to sell their product at a lower price than the colonial tea companies The colonists boycotted...refused to unload the tea from the ships Led to the Boston Tea Party

Coercive/Intolerable Acts Closed down state legislatures Closed down Boston Harbor The Quartering Act

So...why would any colonist NOT want to fight? Remember, they were FROM Britain Tradition of loyalty to the British crown Family ties Hope for a peaceful negtotiation

Patrick Henry’s Speech This man’s goal was to PERSUADE colonists on the fence to FIGHT Virginia Convention of 1775 He constructed a speech that used powerful rhetorical devices to convince his audience. How?

Using Argumentative Appeals *Write this down!* Logos - Appeals to LOGIC Appealing to rationality - this may include facts, statistics, logical reasoning, etc. “We should go to war because the British are taxing us too much. It is bad for the economy.”

Argumentative Appeals, Continued… Pathos - Appeals to EMOTION Appealing to the audience’s feelings - in persuasive speeches, authors often evoke strong emotions like anger, fear, pride, hope, etc. “We should go to war because we have to house and feed British soldiers – doesn’t that make you ANGRY?”

Argumentative Appeals, Continued… Ethos - Appeals to ETHICS Appealing to the audience’s sense of what is moral and right OR appealing to credibility…why can we TRUST that this is the right thing to do/believe? “We should go to war because we need to fight for the principles of liberty and justice!”

Let’s Practice... Logos (LOGIC) Ethos (ETHICS/ CREDIBILITY) Pathos (EMOTION)

Persuasive Techniques Elevated Language Formal words and phrases can lend a serious tone to discussion, when appropriate. Rhetorical Questions These are questions that don’t require answers. Writers pose these questions to show that their arguments make the answers obvious. Repetition Repeating a point tells the audience that it is especially important; repeating a form of expression (parallelism) tells the audience that the ideas expressed in the same way are related.

Let’s Practice