On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry addressed a speech to the 122 delegates from the colony of Virginia. He wanted to obtain freedom from the British, and become his own country. Almost 200 years later, Malcom X, a human rights activist, composed a very similar speech. His goal was to give equal rights to blacks in America. Although the two men may both be seen as extremists for their cause, they left a mark on America’s history of separatism. Patrick Henry and Malcom X both build pathos with their audience in order to effectively persuade the people to take action in support of a cause.
Henry and X use juxtaposition to persuade their listening groups to support their ideas. Using two contrasting words next to each other helps the …show more content…
Since Henrys speech came 189 years before Malcom’s, many choose to believe that Henry’s “Give me Liberty or Give me Death” speech influenced Malcom’s speech, “The Ballot or The Bullet” in many ways. Malcom uses many of the same rhetorical devices as Henry did for the same goal: to persuade the audience to support a separation cause. Perhaps Patrick Henry’s success and the defeat of the Revolutionary War persuaded Malcom X to go about his segregation situation in the same fashion. Either way, both men were successful. We can all begin to understand their desperation for separatism. Remembering the two men and their speeches today helps the modern audience discover useful rhetorical and writing skills. These speeches might have even been the influence for many segregation issues and actions in today’s world. The Black Lives Matter campaign and the uprising rebel with the confederate flag are surly influenced by the two men in history who started it all, Henry and X. Ella Baker states on the Black Lives Matter Campaign, “Oppressed people, whatever their level of formal education, have the ability to understand and interpret the world around them, to see the world for what it is, and move to transform it.” This is just what Patrick Henry, Malcom X, and so many more people are