Jefferson vs. Edwards

The introduction of the Declaration of Independence: When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them …

…and yet they are so powerful the way that both were written, the documents almost forced the reader to agree with the side the writer had taken. The sermon did this by scaring the reader so badly he changes his ways. The Declaration did this by respectfully indicating that they want their independence. Although the methods are completely different, the product is the same: the writers made it so that the reader agreed with them.