Give me liberty, or give me a refund : colonial newspapers and the quest for American liberty, 1765-1774 /

Abstract

Substantiating how colonial ideals towards liberty and independence altered and by what means is the primary goal of this thesis. The colonial gazettes, in the period between 1765 and 1774, expressed new transitional ideas concerning government, religion, the economy, and a host of other social issues. These new views saturated the colonial world and aided in formulating new attitudes towards attainable liberty. Validating when the ideological transformation took place and why is the secondary goal of this thesis. The available gazettes will be examined in the following reactionary phases: the Stamp Act, the Townshend Duties, the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and the Coercive Acts. The former events achieved widespread exposure from rebel authors, forcing those colonists exposed to the declaratory and persuasive literature to take stances on issues they might not have encountered were it not for the gazettes at their disposal.