JFK Library – Declaring the Revolution: America’s Printed Path to Independence

Historical Printings from the David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection

While the path to American independence had a bloody war at the center of it, it also was a revolution of ideas and identity.

During the American Revolution the original thirteen colonies–diverse and separately controlled territories of Great Britain–became a self-governing, democratic alliance united by shared ideals of liberty, freedom from oppression, and individual rights. The words expressing these ideals were spread through the 18^th century’s only form of mass communication: print.

In honor of its 250th anniversary, Declaring the Revolution celebrates the Declaration of Independence; the writings that influenced it; the circumstances that led to its creation; and the individuals from the revolutionary generation who embodied its principles, using rare pamphlets, books, broadsides, maps, and engravings from the collection of David M. Rubenstein.

Guest Curator: Mazy Boroujerdi, Curator, David M. Rubenstein Americana Collection

Pictured: The Bloody Massacre Perpetrated in King Street, Boston, on March 5, 1770. (Tensions between colonists and Britain’s laws, military, and administrative apparatus came to a boil with the Boston Massacre. This print shows how the event was used for propaganda purposes by Patriot Bostonians like Paul Revere.  (Boston: Revere, 1770)