1. From Puritan to Patriotic
Moving from Puritan colonies to the establishment of the United States of America

2. How did the Puritans influence the Founders?
Puritan settlement laid the foundation for a democratic nation
Mayflower Compact – established the 1st self- government
Brought unity to a group of individuals
They held different viewpoints on government and accepting the rules of England
Several other “social contracts” were written
Including Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

3. Common Principles
Popular sovereignty was based on the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s representative government, want authority vested in the community… “We the people...”
National Sovereignty = Puritans had left New England so they could practice their religion free from persecution
All men are created equal is based within the importance of the church community and all individual’s participation in it
The work it took to pass the Declaration taps into the work ethic of Americans – a standard tenet of Puritanism

4. Moving from Puritan to Independence
As Puritan thought progressed over the years, other branches of religion were created which led to further enlightenment and reason
Enlightenment – movement of the 18th century that stressed the belief that science and logic give people more knowledge and understanding than tradition and religion (Merriam-Webster)
This reason led to figuring out how everyone can live together harmoniously – social order
And all this helped open the doors for the writing of the Declaration of Independence

5. “Declaration of Independence” (aka America’s break-up Letter)
Written by Thomas Jefferson
Essentially a persuasion piece for the rest of the colonies = convince them to break from Britain once and for all
Jefferson utilized the many rhetorical devices, particularly Aristotle’s:
Ethos – use of guiding beliefs of a group
Pathos – appealing to the emotions of the audience
Logos – appealing to the reason of the audience

6. Ethos - credibility in product or

7. Pathos - emotions or

8. Logos - logic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PplMjgh_QlM or
a combination of all three (most common):

9. Additional Rhetorical Devices
Like any good break-up letter, Jefferson utilized many rhetorical devices to make the point clear:
Parallelism: identically constructed sentences or phrases (Like father, like son.) (He came, he saw, he conquered.)
Repetition: Repeating same word or phrase to make an idea clear
Anaphora: Repeating same word at the beginning of clauses or sentences
Connotation: Implied meaning of a word, versus the dictionary definition (denotation) - helps indicate the tone (attitude of author towards the subject or audience)
Antithesis: two opposite ideas are put together in a sentence to achieve a contrasting effect. (Speech is silver, but silence is gold.) (You are easy on the eyes, but hard on the heart.)