A project for a college English class at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2.  For anything to succeed, all of the members
involved must understand the purpose of what is
trying to be accomplished.
 Without the majority of those involved having an
understanding of the purposes of their cause,
nothing could be accomplished.
 There are many ways of getting people to come
together for something, but it is much more
difficult to bring together a large group of
people, such as a country.
 Propaganda is the best way to get across a single
purpose to thousands, or millions of people.

3.  Propaganda is the spreading of ideas in various
forms to promote or harm a cause, person, or
idea. (McDonald, Palmer)
 The case in study for this research is the
American Revolution.
 Propaganda comes in many different forms.
During this time period it came mainly through
writing such as posters, paintings, pamphlets, or
books.
 Propagandists tend to use circumstantial
evidence and turn it against a cause, person, or
idea, and use it for their purpose. Although
sometimes, it may be true, often times it is
embellished.

4.  The single most important thing to make
propaganda effective is the ability of the
audience to comprehend the message.
 During this time period, the intended
audience would have had to been able to read
to understand propaganda.
 The most accurate measure for the
effectiveness of propaganda at this time
would have been studying the countries
literacy rate at the time of the American
Revolution.

5.  The Literacy Rate of a Literacy Rate
country is simply a
measure of how many 100
people are literate, or 80
have the ability to read
and write, in that area. 60
 66.8% of all Males were 40
literate Literacy
 White males had the 20
Rate
power to make 0
decisions during this
time, and 77.1% of
white males were
literate. (Herndon)

6.  The literacy rate of pre-war America proves to us
that the majority of Americans that had the
ability to make changes and influence society
could read and understand the propaganda that
was before them.
 Because they could understand this, this
facilitated the revolutionary effort to get
everyone in the colonies on the same page and
rebel from England.
 While not everyone was literate, people that were
able to understand propaganda were able to
explain it to the minority that was
illiterate, further influencing the American
Republic.

7.  The pre-war era in American history is an action
packed time.
 Feeling oppressed by an increase in British
taxes, and tired of being ruled by a country that
they fled, the American people knew it was time
for change.
 Many people held the same feelings, but there
was a lack of people who would speak up.
 This is where we meet one of the most famous
propagandists in American history, Thomas
Paine.

8.  Thomas Paine was an English
political radical that came to the
American colonies in 1774.
 In January of 1776, he wrote
and published the most famous
and influential pieces of
literature in American
history, Common Sense.
 Through Common
Sense, Thomas explained that it
was “common sense” for
Americans to declare their
independence from Britain.
 When he had successfully
dismissed the King of
England, George III, as only a
“royal brute,” he had helped
colonists cut the final ties to the
Mother Country. (Aldridge)

9.  When the pamphlet by Thomas Paine first
surfaced, few had publically voiced the fact of the
corruption in the Mother Country.
 Common Sense was the first work that voiced the
opinion of the vast majority of American’s
publically, and it appealed to nearly all who read it.
 Common Sense sold about 120,000 copies during the
first three months it was in print, and it’s words
resounded in American taverns and coffee shops.
Those who couldn’t read had the book explained to
them. Those who could read loudly proclaimed the
glory of what they had heard!
 Farmers, artisans, shopkeepers, and laborers jumped
on board for the quest for independence, and a
revolution was born.

10.  In January of 1776, Common Sense was
released to the public.
 On July 4th, 1776, America declared her
independence from the Mother Country of
England. (Davidson)
 Thomas Paine successfully united the
American people with his publishing of the
pamphlet Common Sense.
 Many propagandists produced their own forms
of propaganda during the war, but none were
as widespread and successful as the pamphlet
written by Thomas Paine.

11.  Here is an example
of Revolutionary
War Propaganda.
 It depicts these nice
gentlemen and the
different positions
they have learned by
joining the military.
 It appeals to all
Americans who were
capable of fighting
by basically showing
them that they
could become like
this able bodied
gentleman they see
(Steller).
in front of them.

12.  Originally, I wanted to know what effect literacy
had throughout history on the development of the
United States of America as a nation.
 This led me to propaganda, and the fact that
literacy is needed to understand the works of
propaganda.
 Then I amended my question to ask what effect
propaganda had in regards to American history.
 This led me to the American Revolution. The
American Revolution is the most pivotal time in
American history, and the work of Thomas Paine
makes us who we are today. Without literacy and
effective propaganda, we may not be the United
States of America.

13.  “The pen is mightier than the sword.”
 When it is considered, the pen is the most
powerful single object in the universe.
 The signing of documents started every
major war in history, freed slaves, began the
holocaust, and declared our independence
from Britain.
 The pen is what was used by Thomas Paine to
unite the American people for the cause of
uniting in our independence from Britain, and
making us the nation we are today.

15.  Aldridge, A. Owen. Thomas Paine's American Ideology.
Associated University Presses, 1984. Print
 Davidson, Phillip. Propaganda and the American Revolution
1763-1783. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina
Press, 1941. Print.
 Herndon, Ruth. "Literacy Among New England's Transient
Poor, 1750-1800." Questia. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov 2011.
http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000392518
 Jennifer Steller. Revolutionary War Propaganda. N.d. Photograph.
flickrWeb. 29 Nov 2011.
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/bravura/galleries/72157624012
358546>.
 McDonald, Andy, and Palmer, Lene. "Response-ible
Rhetorics."Purpose of Propaganda. George Mason
University, 2003. Web. 6 Nov 2011.
<http://mason.gmu.edu/~amcdonal/Purpose of
Propaganda.html>.

16.  Throughout this project, I kept one thing in
mind. I wanted to learn something about
American history through writing.
 I intend for this presentation to be viewed by
educational level students, preferably high-
school or college level.
 I wanted to take a power point and make it
clearly explain its own purpose without having to
be presented. This resulted in multiple “action
packed” slides.
 I enjoyed doing this research on this topic, and
have really learned just how powerful literature
and the ability to read and write can be in our
lives rather we realize it or not.