Abstract The Declaration of Independence: A New Genre in Political Discourse, or Mixed Genres and an Unlikely Medium? by Trisha Capansky July, 2011 Director of Dissertation: E. Thomson Shields, Jr. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH The dissertation shows how mismatched content/medium relationships can supersede the responses of traditional pairings when the medium dominates the discursive power of the discourse. The dissertation, in part, looks at a historical case study to help us understand some modern uses where mismatched pairings have been used to enhance audience attention. I begin with an overview of related theories that pertain to genre inception, development, and demise. Next, I describe an historic occasion where a mismatched content/medium pairing was, to some extent, responsible for reshaping geo-political relations: Modern concepts of democracy rest within the genre of a political communication that originated from the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Looking at the Declaration of Independence alongside the British government’s response to it in John Lind’s lengthy pamphlet An Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress, I discuss normative uses of genres during the eighteenth century to show how the success of the Dunlap Broadside version of the Declaration of Independence, the official version ordered by the Second Continental Congress, is a product of a larger message that is implied by the broadside in conjunction with its content of revolutionary thinking. The dissertation concludes with modern-day examples where mismatched content/medium pairings are being used in strategies to increase public awareness of messages that were originally introduced through traditional pairings. Keywords: information packaging, document design, genre-audience relationships, colonial discourse, and media studies THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: A NEW GENRE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE OR MIXED GENRES IN AN UNLIKELY MEDIUM? A Dissertation Presented To The Faculty of the Department of English East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy by Trisha Capansky July, 2011 ©Copyright 2011 Trisha Capansky THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: A NEW GENRE IN POLITICAL DISCOURSE, OR MIXED GENRES IN AN UNLIKELY MEDIUM? by Trisha Capansky APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR OF DISSERTATION:______________________________________________________ Dr. E. Thomson Shields, PhD COMMITTEE MEMBER:___________________________________________________________ Dr. Brent Henze, PhD COMMITTEE MEMBER:___________________________________________________________ Dr. Sherry Southard, PhD COMMITTEE MEMBER:___________________________________________________________ Dr. Carl E. Swanson, PhD CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH:____________________________________________ Dr. Jeffrey Johnson, PhD DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL:_________________________________________________ Dr. Paul J. Gemperline, PhD ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The amount of gratitude I owe to my committee members for their countless hours of labor and endless support goes beyond words. For that debt of appreciation and so much more, I will be forever grateful. Dr. Brent Henze, you challenged my ability to write a sentence that is stripped of excess, and forced me to own my words. Dr. Sherry Southard, where do I begin? My gratitude extends beyond your serving on my committee to that of mentor, counselor, and friend. Your encouraging words and advice saved me from many sleepless nights, and forced me to persevere at times when I had all but called it quits. Dr. Carl Swanson, though our encounter was brief, the quality of your scholarship and enthusiasm for history are two attributes I hope to emulate. To my Chair, Dr. E. Thomson Shields (Tom), in addition to the countless hours you devoted to seeing this project through to fruition, you taught me how to re-evaluate difficult situations by finding simplicity in them, and at times, humor. I will truly miss hearing stories of your parents and of Chagrin Falls as much as I will miss your tutelage. Dr. Jan Tovey, though you are no longer with us in person, your presence in this project is as omnipresent today as it was when you were its Chair. Professionally and personally, your advice challenged me to perform at levels that I never knew I was capable of achieving. Without your involvement, it is likely that this project would not exist. Two others who deserve far more recognition than I provide them with here are Larry Stegman and Anthony Capansky. Your devotion and love are unyielding. It is to you that this project is dedicated. TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE.................................................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS……………………………………………….………................................................... ii LIST OF TABLES………………...……………………………………………........................................................ iv LIST OF FIGURES…………………………………………………………….…....................................................... v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION….…………........................................................................................ 1 CHAPTER 2: CONTEXTUAL PARADIGMS INSPIRING THE CREATION OF A DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.............................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 3: ANTECEDENTS AND CONVENTIONS: PAMPHLETS, BROADSIDES, AND NEWSPAPERS IN COLONIAL AMERICA, BEGINNING WITH THE STAMP ACT AND LEADING UP TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE................................................................................ 42 CHAPTER 4: COLONISTS' INVOLVEMENT WITH GENRE MATERIALITY BEFORE WRITING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE................................................................................ 83 CHAPTER 5: AMERICA'S FIRST UTTERANCE: THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE'S EMERGENCE AS A GENRE............................................................................................. 107 CHAPTER 6: RECEPTION, RECOGNITION, AND RESPONSE: ENGLAND'S REACTION TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE .............................................................................. 187 CHAPTER 7: AFTERWORD…...................................................................................................... 214 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………........................................................ 226 LIST OF TABLES 1. Philadelphia Imprints………..…….…….................................................................................... 72 2. Consumer Demand............................................................................................................. 73 3. Charitable Contributions Overall…….................................................................................. 95 4. Charitable Contribution Comparison by Class................................................................... 96 5. Distribution of Charitable Contributions............................................................................ 97 6.Number of Newspapers in colonial America ...................................................................... 141 LIST OF FIGURES 1 Broadside Read to Crowd............…………………...................................................................... 50 2. Franklin's Credibility Attacked. ………................................................................................... 54 3. A Citizen's Concern……………………………................................................................................ 55 4. Regiment Locations ………………………………............................................................................ 56 5. Maryland Gazette's Reaction to the Stamp Act................................................................... 61 6. Pennsylvania Journal's Reaction to the Stamp Act.............................................................. 62 7. Pennsylvania Ledger's Page-One News............................................................................... 65 8. Pennsylvania Ledger's Placement of the Declaration of Independence.............................. 66 9. Pennsylvania Gazette Runs Declaration of Independence in Top Placement Position....... 68 10. Common Sense Experiences Highest Demand ………..…..................................................... 74 11. Colonial Concept of Nationalism Increases........................................................................ 99 12. Fashions are Less Influenced by Britain and Europe …….................................................. 100 13. Jefferson's Rough Draft ……………………………………....…....................................................... 123 14. Dunlap Broadside ……………………………………....…….............................................................. 136 15. An Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress….............................................. 191 16. Broadside Claiming King George III to be Mad.................................................................. 207 Chapter One: Introduction For all that has been written about one of the United States’s founding iconic documents, The Declaration of Independence, missing in that discussion is what seems to be an obvious comparative study: looking at the Declaration alongside the British government’s response to it in John Lind’s lengthy pamphlet An Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress.1 The framers' decision to publish the Declaration first as a broadside might have aided in shaping late eighteenth-century readers' reception to it because, in modern history until July 5, 1776,