"Declaration of Independence" - Faulty Logic Reflection

Thomas Jefferson was a man of great knowledge. Unlike most people, Jefferson was gifted at many things. He did not settle for one single profession, but rather obtained several different jobs including an architect, lawyer, musician, etc; and overall he became the president of the Untied States. Jefferson also for the most part, wrote the Declaration of Independence. There were other people who helped revise and edit it, but for the most part, it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote it. In the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson makes some very good points, however, much of what he writes falls under propaganda and faulty logic. We can tell this by picking out the writing techniques that he uses in his writing. For example, Jefferson often uses words that have little to no meaning behind them. These words are called "Glittery Generalities." People often use these words when they do not have enough support to back up their views. "for the public good" is an example of "Glittery Generality because it does not state what is good for the public, it just simply says "good" (Jefferson 122). Even though Jefferson does not flat out call the king names, I feel like he also uses the fault of "Name Calling". Throughout the whole Declaration Jefferson talks all about what the king has done and not done, all being bad things. For example, the statements "He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislature, " and "He has obstructed the administration of justice" (Jefferson 123). Now maybe that is true, however, Jefferson never explains why those things could be bad. I feel like Jefferson almost made a list of some sort so that it would look as if the king was obviously terrible and that we as the people should side with Jefferson himself. Another thing that he used is a technique called the "Band Wagon" technique. What this technique is saying is basically the whole "everyone else is doing it" technique. By using this he is almost pressuring people into believing the same things that he believes so that you do not appear as an outcast. It is important to observe and recognize the things that you are reading because it may affect how you feel about something. Because Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration to be very persuasive, it persuaded people to agree with him.If he had written it a different way, maybe it would have been less persuasive and the people would not have agreed as strongly. Using faulty logic and propaganda is a technique that people often use when they are trying to get their point across and want people to agree with them. Propaganda often makes things sound better or worse than they really are. Before this, I had never thought about propaganda techniques and how that can affect the way people see things. Propaganda played a big role during World War II and I guess it also affected what people thought during Thomas Jefferson's time as well.


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


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