Introduction
Printed works increased dramatically in the middle of the 18th century, and materials like newspapers, pamphlets, and broadsides were used as tools to shape public opinion, both for and against the war. During the Revolution, newspapers kept the increasingly literate populace of the colonies informed, helped to develop the concept of a free press, and helped to create a national identity.
Reading these primary source documents can tell us a lot about community sentiment and give us a window into how the colonists saw the world.
Online Resources
These newspaper databases are all available from home:
- American Periodicals (1740-1940), available from home with a library card
- America's Historical Imprints, available from home with a library card
- America's Historical Newspapers, available from home with a library card
- The Early American Newspapers Project, America's Historical Newspapers, available from home with a library card
- Massachusetts Broadsides of the American Revolution, freely available from home
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress, freely available from home
- The Performing Arts in Colonial American Newspapers, 1690-1783, Text Database and Index, freely available from home
Newspapers: Primary or Secondary Sources?
When is a newspaper or a periodical a primary source and when is it a secondary source? Sometimes the answer is not so simple. Here are some questions to consider as you evaluate newspapers:
1. Was the reporter a witness to the event? If the article is an eyewitness account, then it is a primary source.
2. When was the article written? If the account was written during the historical event, it's more likely to be a primary source. If the article was written much later, it's probably a secondary source.
3. What source or sources does the author use in the article?
Further Reading:
Analyzing Primary Sources: Newspapers, Primary Source Nexus
Newspaper Article Analysis Guiding Questions, BARAT Education Foundation
Primary and Secondary Sources, University of Illinois
Primary vs. Secondary Sources, American University
Suggested Search Terms and Recommended Titles
To learn more about the history of newspapers during the American Revolution, try the following subject searches in the NYPL Research Catalog:
- American newspapers > History > 18th century
- United States > History > Revolution, 1775-1783 > Sources
- United States > Press coverage. > Revolution, 1775-1783
Want to find these books at a library near you? Try searching WorldCat!
Reporting the Revolutionary War by Call Number: E203 .R44 2012ISBN: 9781402269677Publication Date: 2012-11-01"This is 'you are there' history at its best...[Reporting the Revolutionary War] lets us see and feel how events unfolded for the people who lived them."--American History For the colonists of the new world, the years of the American Revolution were a time of upheaval and rebellion. History boils it down to a few key events and has embodied it with a handful of legendary personalities. But the reality of the time was that everyday people witnessed thousands of little moments blaze into an epic conflict-for more than twenty years. Now, for the first time, experience the sparks of revolution the way the colonists did--in their very own town newspapers and broadsheets.
Revolutionary Networks by Call Number: JFE 20-1746ISBN: 9781421428604Publication Date: 2019-05-07An engrossing and powerful story about the influence of printers, who used their commercial and political connections to directly shape Revolutionary political ideology and mass mobilization. Honorable Mention, St. Louis Mercantile Library Prize, Bibliographical Society of America During the American Revolution, printed material, including newspapers, pamphlets, almanacs, and broadsides, played a crucial role as a forum for public debate. In Revolutionary Networks, Joseph M. Adelman argues that printers--artisans who mingled with the elite but labored in a manual trade--used their commercial and political connections to directly shape Revolutionary political ideology and mass mobilization. Going into the printing offices of colonial America to explore how these documents were produced, Adelman shows how printers balanced their own political beliefs and interests alongside the commercial interests of their businesses, the customs of the printing trade, and the prevailing mood of their communities.
Making Headlines by Call Number: ICM (Great Britain) 09-4363ISBN: 9780875803937Publication Date: 2008-10-30The War for American Independence was essentially a civil war throughout the colonies: loyalists and patriots who had grown up together as countrymen found themselves fighting on opposing sides. Troy Bickham asserts that the war proved almost as divisive in the motherland, as the British wielded the almighty pen and went to battle on the pages of the press in Britain. Surpassing the breadth of previous studies on the subject, Making Headlines offers a look at the British press as a whole, including analysis of London newspapers, provincial newspapers, and monthly magazines.
