A Political Revolution: America's Ideological Beginnings

“A Political Revolution: America’s Ideological Beginnings”

To understand the ideologies of the American Revolution the circumstances that created the dramatic desires for change must be closely examined. The American frame of mind in the years before the revolution was hostile at best. The years of laments falling on deaf English ears had pushed the American Colonists to the edge. The tensions were rising between Britain and the American Colonies. During this time some of the most influential writers in American history emerged. Many of these writers took on different methods of publishing. One of the most important forms was the pamphlet, which could quickly develop an idea.

Pamphlets were perfectly suited for the colonial region, and created an explosion within political ideologies. Often, popular letters were exchanged in a very similar manner, and some were even published in pamphlet form. The popular media published pamphlets that often resembled public conversations with a bantering back and forth between a writer and his audience. This paper will analyze supporting evidence, which clearly indicates the gradual pressure changing ideologies placed on Colonial America which ultimately emerged as revolution. It will demonstrate how these ideologies grew through pamphleteering, and how pamphlets became one of the leading causes of the American Revolution.

In order to grasp how this single form of literature could lead a nation into revolution, we must understand first what a pamphlet is, and why it would be better suited than, say, a newspaper or book. A pamphlet was limited in size, and could contain from five pages up to forty-eight pages. However it made very good use of its size, containing sometimes a...

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