by Sharon Ruth Hill

Created on: July 06, 2009

Consider a print broadside as a sort of special news bulletin solely dedicated to a singular topic of the utmost importance. As precursor to tabloid journalism, the broadside enjoyed a wide community following as eager townspeople struggled to stay abreast of current events during a time when information wasn't always readily available. Weak information sources combined with a mostly indigent population, unable to afford the extravagance of a newspaper, enabled the print broadside to become a powerful source of news.

For about three hundred years the single sheet of paper, or parchment, with printing on just one side was a media force with the power to engage the masses to rise up, spark debate, or come together in unison. The original intention for the broadside was as a posting for any new proclamation, acts, or official notices. Later on the citizenry decided the same document form would serve well as a method for increasing political activism. Printing and re-printing speeches for anti-establishment candidates and free-thinkers, religious autonomy pleadings, and ballads with straight forward criticism for the hierarchy or even subversive double entendre with more covert meaning, all used the print broadside to convey the strength of the message.

Some of the earliest known print broadsides in America were proclamations by colonial governors, as in New York Governor Benjamin Fletcher's Proclamation of War in 1693. In an unfortunate tale of American history, print broadsides were also used to advertise upcoming slave sales. As you can imagine, unscrupulous citizenry used the print broadside as a vehicle for rampant propaganda of each era. Before the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence was printed on a broadside and a multitude were posted for all to read, take pride, and increase patriotism for the soon to be new nation. This document inspired so many to fight for the American cause in what was a mark of treason, punishable by death, against the Crown of England.

Broadsides fell out of favor around the mid nineteenth century when newspapers became so affordable, due mostly to the reduction of the newspaper tax, that the general population could now afford to randomly purchase the publications. Also, over time more and more individuals of a variety of class and stature became more educated and literate, therefore, thirsty for expanded knowledge and all- inclusive information. Further competition for the print broadside was the cheap novel, also known as the "penny dreadful". Self-published street literature also aided the demise of the print broadside.

Sources:

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Communications History: The United States 1585-1880

National Library of Scotland-Broadsides

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