The myth‐making functions of the rhetoric of the American revolution: Francis Hopkinson as a case study

This essay suggests a critical approach to the rhetoric of the American Revolution by focusing on the notion of myth and by examining the persuasive literature of Francis Hopkinson. Because myth‐making tends to modify the world view of the revolutionaries and to construct a shared ideology, it can have a profound influence on the shaping of a national self‐consciousness and creating a national ethos. At the same time, revolutionary rhetoric attacks the myths of the old order, weakening traditional attachments and promoting a new national identity.