Declaring the Revolution

An exploration of the significant role that print media played in the American Revolution and the formation of the United States

Declaring the Revolution explores how the thirteen American colonies used printed materials to achieve their independence from Great Britain. The Declaration of Independence did not appear in isolation; it was one in a long series of declaratory printings—from the Stamp Act in 1765 to the Treaty of Paris in 1783—that confronted America’s relationship to its parent country. Distributed pamphlets, broadsides, books, journals, handbills, engravings, articles, speeches, laws, and songs all played a part in what became the American Revolution. By providing a comprehensive, visually rich overview of what was then published, Declaring the Revolution recreates the eighteenth-century milieu of printings, printers, words, and writers that bridged the ideas of the Enlightenment with the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and, consequently, the bloody, eight-year war that was fought in pursuit of these ideals. An essential addition to early American studies, Declaring the Revolution uses printed primary sources, authentically reproduced, to explain the relation between the war with Britain, American Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence. Featuring a foreword by Jill Lepore and essays by twelve award-winning historians, this book makes the case that independence was not possible without the publications that induced it. 

Distributed for the National Archives Foundation

Exhibition Schedule:

National Archives Museum, Washington, DC

(Summer 2026)

JFK Presidential Library, Boston, MA

(Summer 2026)

FDR Presidential Library, Hyde Park, NY

(Summer 2026)