What is the style of the "The Declaration of Independence," and which rhetorical strategies does Jefferson use?

Thomas Jefferson uses a persuasive but formal style when writing "The Declaration of Independence." He uses long, compound and complex sentences, and often employs semicolons instead of ending with periods, which makes each sentence seem extremely drawn out and somewhat difficult to read.

Jefferson also likes to begin sentences with coordinating conjunctions, such as "and", "for", and "but", which have the rhetorical effect of emphasizing how important the addition, reason, or the contradiction is. For example, he states the following:

But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government... 

The author also uses anaphora, the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning of lines or paragraphs, for both style and rhetorical effect when he begins a series of complaints with the word "For."

Other style applications which add to the rhetorical effect include the fact that he often capitalizes certain common nouns which he believes are essential to man, such as "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" and "FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES".

Jefferson uses all three Greek rhetorical appeals in the document. For example, he uses ethos when he states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." Here, the reader can recognize that it is ethically correct to treat all human beings equally, so they agree with the speaker.

Next, Jefferson also uses logos when he mentions the fact that the king of England has "a history of repeated injuries and usurpations." The reader can look up facts related to this "history" and see for himself that such was the case. However, Jefferson provides the reader with a list of transgressions, such as the fact that that king cut off their trade, imposed taxes without consent, denied them a trial by jury, and abolished "the free system of English laws."

Finally, Jefferson uses pathos. He states that the king was sending armies to complete "the works of death, desolation and tyranny," all phrases which evoke emotion in the reader. He also states that the circumstances at that time were that of "Cruelty" even compared to "the most barbarous ages" and completely uncivilized.