Printing and Supporting the Revolution

Books and printed documents were important in Early America. Ideas and information spread this way, as well as by word of mouth, but printed material could reach farther more quickly. Without printing presses, the cry leading to the American Revolution would not have had the same impact.

Thomas Jefferson's ideas on American freedom were first printed on the Widow Rind's press. He had written it from Monticello with suggestions for Virginia's delegates to the Continental Congress. Virginia's House of Burgesses considered it too inflammatory to endorse, but Jefferson's friends persuaded Clementina Rind to publish it as a pamphlet. A Summary View of the Rights of British America was issued in August 1774.

Thomas Paine's 47-page booklet, Common Sense, published January 09, 1776, sounded even more radical. It pulled in many common citizens to unite with the American political groups advocating freedom.
In addition, many colonial newspapers promoted either concessions from Britain or breaking away from them. Here are some of the early newspapers in the colonies:

     The Georgia Gazette - 1763 -1802
     The Maryland Gazette - 1728 -1832
     The Boston-Evening Post - 1735 - 1775
     New-Hampshire Gazette - 1756 - 1851
     New-York Evening Post - 1744 - 1752
     New-York Gazette - 1759 - 1821
     North-Carolina Gazette - 1751 - ?
     Pennsylvania Journal - 1742 - 1793
     Providence Gazette - 1762 - 1825
     South Carolina Gazette - 1732 - 1775
     Virginia Gazette - 1736 - 1780 

Benjamin Franklin's print shop became famous in Philadelphia. First he served as an apprentice to his older brother in Boston, but he started his printing business in Philadelphia in 1728 and began the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729. He's probably best known for Poor Richard's Almanack, and quotes from it are still commonly used today. Franklin also became a supporter of American independence.

Many others wrote and printed articles, pamphlets, and books, either encouraging Great Britain to give the Americans a say in government or for the colonies to declare independence. Printing presses could be called the backbone of the revolution.

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