Political Pamphlet
Joy, Trevor, Parker, Morgan, Rohitha, Ashleigh
WHAT IS A POLITICAL PAMPHLET?
- A political pamphlet is a collection of papers that are unbounded or loosely bounded together and "from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century," it "was the chief instrument to carry one's ideas to the public.." (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- It was a way for writers to express their opinions about what was happening in the Americas during revolutionary time.
- Pamphlets were very important to spreading news and ideas and were " well adapted to this use because it was small and cheap...". (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- Most pamphlets during this time "were written to appeal to some certain emotion or to some particular group of people" to convince them of their cause (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
HOW DID POLITICAL PAMPHLETS AFFECT THE REVOLUTION?
- During the revolution "a great number of controversial pamphlets were written by both Americans and Englishmen with the unquestioned intention of influencing the people either for or against Great Britain" (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- The pamphlets were "the principal avenue by which propaganda was spread that was used during the Revolution" (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- Writers were able to express their opinion about the revolutions which lead to "Over 2,000 pamphlets" that "were published during the Revolution" (The Political Pamphlet).
- "Both the British and the American governments were interested in securing the aid of writers to help spread propaganda" because they wanted to obtain supporters for the war (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- Since prices of pamphlets could be expensive and many of the colonist were illiterate "reading a pamphlet before a group of townspeople was common and helped to overcome the lack of education" (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- A factor in the effectiveness of the pamphlet was the time it was released. It was important that the pamphlet did not "come neither too soon nor too late" so that it could be effective and convince people to support the cause (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- During the strict rain of Great Britain many of "the minds of the people were worked up to a pitch where they were capable of being influenced by inflammatory arguments" and this was when the saw a rise in support (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
- These pamphlets were very crucial in convincing colonist to support the war.
- It was important that "the common man could read and appreciate" the pamphlet because "the common man was the person to be reached.". Without their support the colonies could not go to war (Pamphlets and Public Opinion).
HOW DID POLITICAL PAMPHLETS AFFECT THE LITERATURE OF THIS TIME?
- Many "colonists had thought of themselves as part of the extended British nation..." but by the start of the Revolution "many came to see themselves as Americans, with different interests to the colonial powers". The people got this idea from political pamphlets (The Pamphlet War).
- In the colonies many people depended on Great Britain for their writing and literature. This was because we saw ourselves as part of their country, but with Revolution and idea of America as a separate country, they were in need of local literary works.
- The political pamphlets was the first American influenced literature and lead to a split from English literature.
Works Cited
"The Political Pamphlet: Thomas Paine (1737-1809)." N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/outlines/literature-1991/democratic-origins-and-revolutionary-writers-1776-1820/the-political-pamphlet-thomas-paine-(1737-1809).php>.
"Pamphlets and Public Opinion During the American Revolution." N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2014 <https%3A%2F%2Fjournals.psu.edu%2Fpmhb%2Farticle%2FviewFile%2F29581%2F29336>.
"The Pamphlet War and the Boston Massacre." The American Revolution -. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/americanrevolution/pamphletwar.html>.
"Brandeis Special Collections Spotlight." : French Revolution Pamphlets, 1761-1807. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.
"Common Sense (pamphlet)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Dec. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Sense_(pamphlet)>.