Newsroom

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Paper plays a foundational role in U.S. history, including the fight for liberty during the American Revolution. As America marks its 250th anniversary, Sylvamo, the world’s paper company, is highlighting the product that helped shape a nation. 

Spreading Revolutionary Ideas 

From left, a broadside commemorating the Boston Tea Party, a New Hampshire Gazette notice announcing provisions of the Stamp Act and the title page of Thomas Paine's Common Sense (1776). Images courtesy of the American Antiquarian Society and Robert D. Farber University Archives & Special Collections, Brandeis University

In the years leading up to the Revolution, newspapers played a vital role in sharing information and shaping public sentiment. Publishers exchanged articles and essays across the 13 colonies, fostering shared conversations around local grievances and drawing attention to pivotal revolutionary moments, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.  

In 1765, the Stamp Act, imposed by the British Parliament, struck at that exchange by becoming the first direct tax on the American colonies, requiring payment on printed materials. Paper became a symbol of protest, and the act united the colonies in defiance under the rallying cry: "No taxation without representation." 

In 1776, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” helped sway public opinion toward independence. The pamphlet argued for separation from Great Britain and circulated widely throughout the colonies, selling roughly 120,000 copies.  

Without paper, these ideas for an independent nation may not have become a revolutionary movement. 

Documenting Independence and Self-Governance 

From left, a printed copy of the Declaration of Independence, the first page of the U.S. Constitution and the title page of the first volume of The Federalist (1788).  Images courtesy of the Library of Congress and Google Books.