Discover Broadsides Which Lie Hidden In History

If you are studying for the CSET English or CSET Multiple Subjects exams then you need to know about broadsides. One aspect of literature that you will be graded on is your understanding of literature as it changes through time.

In this lesson we will first watch a short video on the American Revolution to establish historical context. Next, we will learn what broadsides are. Finally, we will close the lesson by reading the text of a broadside.

Broadsides and the American Revolution

American Revolution: The Causes

Broadsides are notices written on disposable, single sheets of paper printed on one side only, intended to have an immediate impact on readers.

Broadsides did have an impact in colonial America. They delivered the latest news and much more: government proclamations, public service announcements, opinion papers, advertisements, and entertainment updates. Broadsides address virtually every aspect of the American Revolution. What most people don’t know is that the Declaration of Independence was known as the Dunlap Broadside.

Read this Wikipedia article on the Dunlap Broadside then return to this lesson:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunlap_broadside

Colonial printers of newspapers and almanacs often printed broadsides as a source of extra income, in addition to other jobbing work, and some printers sold books and stationery supplies as well. Essential late-breaking news was transmitted as broadside “Postscripts” or “Extras” to the weekly newspapers. Official government business and notices of meetings were disseminated by broadsides; they were used to preach morality and to demonstrate the consequences of wrongdoing; but ballads and verse were also popular and plentiful. Illustrations were difficult to design and time-consuming to cut from wood, so most printers accumulated a supply of “stock” woodcuts for repeated use.

Revolutionary leaders used widely-circulated newspaper extras to publicize colonial solidarity