Common Press Makers Blog

In 1786, just ten years after the Declaration of Independence was printed in Philadelphia and ignited the Revolutionary War, some printers in Philadelphia attempted to lower the wages of journeymen currently in their employ. In response, a group of journeymen gathered together and vowed to resist by withholding their labor.

In 1775, flaxseed accounted for one seventh of the total value of exports leaving Philadelphia.

Beyond the physical spaces between words and letters, we can examine the Declaration of Independence for the uneven space that was afforded for people in the document. Of the 1,320 words in the Declaration, there is space offered for two large categories of humans: the masculine (“He”, “Mankind”, “Men”) and the words “merciless Indian Savages”.

Ironworks, like crucibles, functioned as melting pots of a sort in which capital, people, and ideas from Europe, Africa, and North America met, collided, and melded to form something new and uniquely American. -John Bezis-Selfa

Time in the Revolutionary Era

This will be an interesting experiment to try to see what printing was like before modern illumination. Without strong lighting, it may take us a little while longer to print copies of the broadside, but slowing down and enjoying the process is not a bad thing at all.

In January 1775, three newspapers launched in Philadelphia. Each of these printers promised to preserve the liberty of the press. The proposals for these newspapers show the opportunities and challenges of sharing information during the tumult of the Revolutionary War.