June 2013
Since Thomas Paine anonymously published Common Sense in 1776, pamphlets have provided Americans from all walks of life with a means to share their thoughts and opinions on all sorts of issues, such as slavery, suffrage, education, and religion. In the 19th century, as printing costs went down and the US population grew, the use of pamphlets as a means of communicating ideas skyrocketed. Often these pamphlets began as sermons or speeches which, at the urging of supporters, the authors subsequently published. In fact, historical pamphlets could be compared to the blogs of today, in that many of them were published by and represented the views of individuals. – Read More –