Read the excerpt from "Save the Redwoods." In the course of my explorations twenty-five years ago, I found five sawmills located on or near the lower margin of the Sequoia belt, all of which were cutting more or less Big Tree lumber, which looks like the redwood of the coast, and was sold as redwood. One of the smallest of these mills in the season of 1874 sawed two million feet of Sequoia lumber. Since that time other mills have been built among the Sequoias, notably the large ones on Kings River and the head of the Fresno.

What does the appeal in this excerpt mainly achieve?

It establishes the credibility of the author.
It lays out a logical sequence of events.
It makes the audience feel sorry for the trees.
It provides reasons to support the author’s claim

The answer is: It establishes the credibility of the author.

Explanation:

This is an excerpt from John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir. John Muir, America's pioneer conservationist and father of the national park system. This passage demonstrates his knowledge of the area as well as his familiarity with the various tree species which inhabit it.

paine is arguying that they had tried everything before coming to the conclusion that they needed to fight for their freedom.

argument: "every quiet method for peace hath been ineffectual."

claim 1: "our prayers have been rejected with disdain; and only tended to convince us, that nothing flatters vanity, or confirms obstinacy in kings more than repeated petitioning and nothing hath contributed more than that very measure to make the kings of europe absolute."

claim 2: "wherefore, since nothing but blows will do, for god’s sake, let us come to a final separation, and not leave the next generation to be cutting throats, under the violated unmeaning names of parent and child."