During the early stages of the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson and the Continental Congress recognized that many colonists remained unpersuaded that the colonies should wage war against the British. In order to persuade colonists to join the Patriot cause, the authors wrote a cogent, persuasive document that touched on all three rhetorical appeals established in Aristotle’s treatise on the art of persuasion. Jefferson asserts his credibility and appeals to his audience’s sense of ethos by claiming authority. He appeals to the audience’s sense of pathos, or emotion, by employing evocative, sometimes hyperbolic language. Finally, he appeals to the audience’s sense of logos, or reasoning, by laying out twenty-seven irrefutable “facts” as evidence of the injustices King George III perpetrated on the colonies. 

Ethos

According to Aristotle's treatise on the art of persuasion, Rhetoric, one of the most important elements in argumentative text is the author’s ability to appeal to an audience’s sense of ethos. To come across as authoritative figures, authors needed to demonstrate their humility, their expertise, and their reliability. Jefferson establishes his credibility as an author early on in the preamble of the document by demonstrating the circumspection and sobriety with which he and the other Patriot leaders have considered the question of revolution. He states that the British have long persecuted the colonies, and now is the time that “they should declare the causes which impel to the separation.” Jefferson states that “Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.” He encourages his compatriots to demonstrate “Prudence,” and he assures his fellow colonists that their call for revolution has been thoroughly considered and debated. Although “mankind [is] more disposed to suffer” under one government, the British crown has caused so much suffering and abuse that it is their “right” and “duty to throw off such Government.” 

In the concluding paragraphs, Jefferson illustrates his humility. He states that “In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms.” This humility has not been reciprocated, for, as he continues, “Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury.” Jefferson and the Continental Congress assure their audience that they have patiently and humbly suffered at the hands of the British crown. However, their grievances have escalated to such an extreme that they believe it is necessary to issue revolution against their oppressor. 

Pathos

In their efforts to create a sense of urgency and necessity, Jefferson and the other writers of the committee appealed to their audience’s sense of pathos, or emotion, particularly through their diction. Although many historians argue that some of their grievances may have been exaggerated, the language Jefferson employs nonetheless appealed to his audience. For example, in grievance 24, Jefferson claims that King George III “has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” While this may not be entirely and literally true, the language Jefferson employs is rife with emotional images and connotations, thereby producing pathos. In grievance 25, Jefferson states that King George III is “at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat [sic] the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages…” This grievance is filled with emotionally charged vocabulary and impassioned rhetoric. The fact that King George III’s behavior was “scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages” may be objectively untrue, but the language nevertheless creates an appropriate sense of impending war and violence. 

Furthermore, throughout the list of grievances, Jefferson pits the Patriots against King George III...