Pamphleteer is a historical term for someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (and therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation.

Context

Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articulate a political ideology, for example, or to encourage people to vote for a particular politician. Early modern news pamphlets also made extensive use of stock imagery to describe, highlight, or criticize various social and cultural events and issues. During times of political unrest, such as the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, pamphleteers were highly active in attempting to shape public opinion. Before the advent of

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...

s, those with access to a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

and a supply of paper often used pamphlets to widely disseminate their ideas.

Famous pamphleteers

Thomas Paine Thomas Paine (born Thomas Pain; – In the contemporary record as noted by Conway, Paine's birth date is given as January 29, 1736–37. Common practice was to use a dash or a slash to separate the old-style year from the new-style year. In th ...

's pamphlets were influential in the history of the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

.James A. Henretta et al. (2011). America's History, Volume 1: To 1877. Macmillan. p. 165. . 17th-century Dutch naval officer Witte de With wrote papers mocking and praising his fellow officers. Poet and polemicist John Milton published pamphlets as well. Jonathan Edwards and John Calvin changed the course of Christianity with their pamphlets.

References

External links

"From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1822-1909"

* James A. Oliver
"The Pamphleteers" by James A. Oliver
(PBK) and (HBK). Pamphlets Activism by type {{job-stub

Context

Famous pamphleteers

See also

References

External links