Revolutionary Literature
Persuasive Literature
And
The American Revolution
The American
Revolution
• 1775-1783
• American colonists
revolt against unfair
taxation and laws and
break from British rule
The American Revolution
Cont... “Give me liberty or give
me death!”
• Patrick Henry, the
most famous orator
(speaker) of the
American Revolution,
delivered a fiery
speech to convince
delegates of the need
for armed resistance.
• “Speech in the Virginia
Convention” led to The
Declaration of
Independence” and life
and freedoms as we
know it today.
The Political Pamphlet
• The most common and popular type of
literature
• The most famous one was Thomas
Paine’s Common Sense that sold over
100,000 copies in its first 3 months of
publication.
Powerful Persuasion
• Most literature was persuasive
trying to get people to understand
– The wrongdoings of the British
Government
– How America was to rebuild after the
Revolution
Important Revolutionary
Literature
• The most important
pieces of literature:
• “Speech in the
Virginia Convention”
by Patrick Henry
• “The Declaration of
Independence”
drafted by Thomas
Jefferson
• “What is an
American” by
Michael-Guillaume
Jean de Crevecoeur
What is an American?

After the Revolutionary War, a definition of
what the term “American” means was needed.

We will read a section of “What is an
American?” by Jean de Crevecoeur

You will also write your own definition essay
about your idea of what the term “American”
means to you.