Intro and Chapter One: Sowing the Seeds of Revolution

Rodger Streitmatter begins by giving us an idea of the conceptualization of this book.  He had once taught a course called "How the News Media Shape History."  This course was so popular with students that he was encouraged to teach it every semester rather than every other.  His course focused on the role of the Fourth Estate not just in our society but its role in shaping our history.  The news media provides a powerful role when it comes to affecting events in history.  Rodger doesn't claim to think that the news media directly affects history but acknowledges that it can shape how things will turn out and act as a guiding light.

Chapter one focuses on the role that journalism served in sparking the American Revolution.  After fighting the French out of the fur trade in the American colonies the British needed to replenish their coffers and decided that the colony should pay the brunt of the expense for the protection they received.  This lead the monarchy to place many new taxes on the American colonists.  The American colonists were, at first, alright with some taxation but quickly began to become abused with the excessive taxation.  Sam Adams was the first to right about the unfair taxation.  Adams wrote,

"If our Trade may be taxed why not our Lands? Why not the Produce of our Lands & everything we possess or make use of?"

Rodger Streitmatter points out that this is among the first of many future outcries for "no taxation without representation.  Upon noticing the social discourse in Boston the British Monarchy decided to send four regiments of soldiers to pacify any strife.  Sam Adams began to speak out against these soldiers and started writing sensationalized stories of soldiers attacking average citizens of Boston.  After long enough, with help from the tradgedy of the Boston Massacre, the soldiers had been called back in response to continuing public outcry.

Thomas Paine was the next to write about the unfair state of the a land being ruled from afar.  "Common Sense" was a spark that helped to ignite the colonists' passion.  Thomas Paine spoke in a common tone that allowed every single person to be able to understand what he was writing and many would read aloud or read to groups of people.  This meant Paine was even able to reach those colonists that were illiterate.  Paine's words were so powerful that he was literally able to reach an unreachable audience.  With a general consensus among the colonists of the air of oppression this very likely made the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence an easier decision for our founding fathers.