1754-1783: Communications: Publications

Samuel Adams, An Appeal to the World; or, A Vindication of the Town of Boston ... (Boston: Printed & sold by Edes & Gill, 1769)—a frequent contributor to the Boston Gazette, Adams airs his views concerning the military occupation of Boston;

William Bradford III, Catalogue of Books Just Imported from London, and to Be Sold by William Bradford, at the London Coffee-House, Philadelphia. Wholesale And Retaile. With Good Allowance to Those That Take a Quantity (Philadelphia: Printed by William Bradford, 1760?);

Daniel Dulany, Considerations on the Propriety of Imposing Taxes in the British Colonies, for the Purpose of Raising a Revenue, by Act of Parliament (Annapolis, Md.: Printed & sold by Jonas Green, 1765)—the most effective and popular of the colonial protests against the Stamp Act, this pamphlet appeared in five American editions. Dulany maintained that the statute was a violation of English common law because the colonists had no representation in Parliament, and he urged the American colonies to develop strong economies. In later years he became disillusioned by the violence of the American Revolution and opposed independence;

Benjamin Franklin, Poor Richard improved: Being an Almanack and Ephemeris ... For the Year of Our Lord 1755 ..., as Richard Saunders, Philom. (Philadelphia: Printed & sold by B. Franklin & D. Hall, 1754)—during this period Benjamin Franklin’s famous almanac sold on average of ten thousand copies per year. It represented an indispensable item to the colonial American, providing all sorts of practical information, including astrological forecasts, calendars, recipes, jokes, poems, essays, maxims, and moon and tide changes;

Hugh Gaine, Gaine’s Universal Register, or, American and British Kalendar for the Year 1777 (New York: H. Gaine, 1777);

William Goddard, The Partnership: or the History of the Rise and Progress of the Pennsylvania Chronicle, &c. (Philadelphia: Printed by William Goddard, 1770)—a scathing account of how Goddard felt duped by his partners, Joseph Galloway and Thomas Wharton, into liquidating his Providence, Rhode Island, business so that he could invest more heavily in the Philadelphia newspaper;

Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, numbers 1–4 (Philadelphia: Printed & sold by Styner & Cist, 1776–1777); number 5 (Lancaster, Penn.: Printed by John Dunlap, 1778); numbers 6–7 (Philadelphia: Printed by John Dunlap, 1778); numbers 8–9 (Philadelphia: Printed by John Dunlap, 1780); numbers 10–12 (Philadelphia: Printed by John Dunlap?, 1782); number 13 (Philadelphia, 1783)—first written while Paine served as an aide to Gen. Nathanael Greene during the long, hard winter of 1776–1777. The Crisis papers are probably Paine’s greatest contribution to the war effort because they roused the morale of soldier and citizen alike during critical times;

Paine, Common Sense: Addressed to the Inhabitants of America ... (Philadelphia: Printed & sold by R. Bell, 1776)—initially published anonymously, this forty-seven-page pamphlet was variously attributed to Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Adams. By using simple language that the masses could understand, Paine helped unite Americans behind the independence movement;

James Parker, Report of the Business of the Firm of B. Franklin & David Hall (New York, 1766);

James Rivington, A Catalogue of Books Sold by Rivington and Brown, Booksellers and Stationers from London, at Their Stores, over against the Golden Key (Philadelphia: Heinrich Miller, 1762);

Rivington, To the Public. Having Already Signed the Association, Recommended by the General Committee of New-York, Voluntarily and Freely;—For the Further Satisfaction of the Respectable Public, I Hereby Declare, That It Is My Unalterable Resolution Rigidly to Conform Myself to the Said Association; and I Humbly Intreat the Pardon of Those Whom I Have Offended by Any III Judged Publications ... (New York: Printed by James Rivington, 1775).