The Declaration of Independence- Reflection Blog

The Declaration of Independence serves an important part in the United States government. This famous document was written by Thomas Jefferson, who was a man of many professions. Apparently, he was an inventor, musician, architect, lawyer, surveyor, and botanist (Jefferson 120). John F. Kennedy said "I think this is the most extraordinary of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered in the White House, with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." (Jefferson 120). By reading the "Before You Read" segment in my book, I got a little bit of background information about Thomas Jefferson. This showed me a lot about him and from this I learned that he was very talented and smart (Jefferson 120). I think that if you look closely at The Declaration of Independence, you would easily be able to recognize both propaganda techniques and also some errors in faulty logic. For example, on page 122 Thomas Jefferson uses a propaganda technique to try and get his point across. He used the testimonial propaganda technique and in doing so he basically used a big name to intimidate people and to get his point across (Recognizing Propaganda). Thomas Jefferson makes reference to the King of Great Britain and says "The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states." (Jefferson 122). Another use of propaganda displayed by Thomas Jefferson in The Declaration of Independence is the use of glittery generalities. Glittery Generalities is when you use important sounding words that can neither be proven or disproved, for example words like "glad", "honest", and "good" (Recognizing Propaganda). An example of when Thomas Jefferson uses glittery generalities is when he says "for the public good", and this is a glittery generality because it is an important sounding word that can neither be proved or disproved (Recognizing Propaganda). No one knows what the public good is, so therefore it is a glittery generality. Thomas Jefferson uses this propaganda technique many times throughout The Declaration of Independence, and I think that it is used by many people. Thomas Jefferson also uses the bandwagon and the either/ or fallacy propaganda technique in The Declaration of Independence. The bandwagon propaganda technique is when you think that just because everyone else is doing it, then you should also do it (Recognizing Propaganda). I think that Thomas Jefferson uses the bandwagon technique in this document because he probably wants everyone to go along with what he is saying. I think he uses the bandwagon technique because the more people that think everyone else is doing something the more likely they will go along with it. I think that Thomas Jefferson uses a lot of propaganda techniques in The Declaration of Independence because it makes it a lot more persuasive and it can make things sound a lot better than they actually are. I think that Thomas Jefferson did a very good job in making The Declaration of Independence very persuasive because apparently it was good enough for us to keep it around all of this time.

Bibliography

Jefferson, Thomas. "Declaration of Independence." American Literature. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 120-124. Print.

"Recognizing Propaganda--Guide to Critical Thinking--Academic Support." 6 Mar. 2011. Web. 26. Sept.