Close Reading

In the paragraph starting with "And what have we to oppose them?" Patrick Henry is convincing the President of the Virginia Convention to go to war with the British. He uses multiple rhetorical questions in the beginning of the paragraph that really emphasize the point that for the last ten years, the people of the New World have done everything that the British have wanted them to do, and the British haven't done anything in return. Patrick Henry makes the point that the people of the New World have petitioned, remonstrated, supplicated, and prostrated before the throne but to no avail. He brings the emphasis of those last few points to another level by using parallel structure. In making these points, Patrick Henry brings himself around to his main point, war with the British is inevitable, and preparations need to be made to win the war and preserve their freedom. By the end of this segment, when Patrick Henry is really getting heated up, he repeats "we must fight!" to further emphasize and clarify his point that war is the answer and freedom is worth fighting for.