Using Mass Media: Age of Reason Vs. Now

Age of Reason

Mail was often used, but was really slow

Any mail to and from Britain took about two months to get across Atlantic. This caused the delay of news to America from King George III according to the Revolutionary Betrayal 12. This also is one of the reasons why King George, would find it difficult to settle affairs. Letter writing was very common with individuals in the colony. Colonist such as Abigail and John Adams often wrote letters to each other discussing their personal interest and tactics in war. Additionally during the war letters were often the main way of communicating, they were often victims of espionage.

Printing presses and Newspapers

Documents such as the Declaration of independence were printed out to the colonies. This often led to a topic of discussion in the colonies according to the  Assumption College. The Pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine provided colonists with the  motivation to rebel. Because of the lack of fast communication often newspapers  had limited topics of discussion and less world news.

A printed newspaper from the pre-revolutionary era

Have specific meetings and Meeting in Person

People often talked to each other in person.  An example was having delegates from almost each colony to form the Continental Congress. There they discussed what to do about the British especially with the Intolerable Acts, Sugar Acts, and Stamp Acts

Use of Images to attract attention

Pictures were truly worth a thousand words. After the Boston Massacre, images showed up which depicted white colonists as being innocently killed by Red soldiers. This in turn angered the colonist. 

Using religion to get the attention of colonist

Back then religion was common and a large part of the colonists' life. During the rebellion they had resistance flags that said "Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God." They Used Religion as an excuse to fight because colonist felt suppressed. 

Contemporary Era

Many options to communication it's much faster now

Any important information between countries can be told within minutes. This is because of the numerous forms of communication including: e-mail, mail, the internet and social media. However, people often say there is less privacy because of hacking, identity theft and being able to go through people's conversation history.

Online newspapers, printed newspapers, and articles are available

They can be accessed anywhere with internet. There is also a variety of topics such as health, economy, politics etc to appeal to the audience. Compared to the Era of Reason, the audience has lost the commonality of all believing in God. It also describes more foreign relations and world news, making the once small community larger. Additionally transportation such as cars, planes, helicopters and much more have connected the world together.

Possibility to have meetings anywhere at any time through the use of internet

It's possible to use the internet and see each other through the use of webcams and mics. Many meetings are held and  officials can meet with each other within a day or hours by taking the plane. 

Both

Propaganda

The use of media to establish propaganda is very common now and during the time of the  Age of Reason. During the age of reason many patriots and loyalists published papers that were in favor or against the crown. Documents published by the patriots included the Declaration of Independence which stated the issues of U.S. and how King George, ignored them. A document published by a Loyalist was "The True Interest of America Impartially Stated," which stated reason as to why United States should stay with British and refuting another Patriot document Common Sense.   

The use of media for propaganda is very common in the Contemporary Era. Topics in news on the television or newspapers are often over exaggerated or biased. For examples complaining commercials are very biased and derogatory to the opposition This is to attempt to persuade the voters to vote on their side. Additionally, topics such as Ebola, is kinda like propaganda There is  so much information everywhere about Ebola, from the symptoms and virulence of the disease. This fear is so common that many American citizens are afraid they will get it. In fact, many people are misinformed believing that they have Ebola, but really don't. This has caused for an Ebola Hysteria according to the CNN. To add on in countries such as North Korea, residents at such a young age are taught  propaganda in going against United States. 

Mass protest

Mass protesting is another example of mass media. Protesting not only provides awareness, but now it is often on the local news. During the Age of Reason there was a lot of mass protest. For example, was the Boston Tea Party. This protest was to show the Son's of Liberty's distaste is the King. This also helped established public attention as it was in many newspapers. Additionally, the burning of British effigies was common to show a sign of rebellion. This also got public attention.

In the Contemporary Era, there are still a lot of protests. People in United States often have labor union protesting because of a lack of pay. 

Interpretation: The Meaning Behind America's Documents

"We the people of the United States...secure the blessings of liberty...for the United States of America" 

The Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and the Preamble to the Constitution are very important documents in America. These passages resonate the founding ideals of the Founding Fathers in order to compose the American Dream. Embedded between the lines of these documents, it quietly reiterates the precedents that helped form the ideals of the U.S. government. These ideals are very evident in the tone and the rhetoric of the three records.

Tone

Throughout the passages, there are numerous tones that the authors wanted to express. However, the main tone that correlates with all the documents was to show that United States at that time was logical and prepared in planning out their independence. The founding ideal was America's freedom. These documents are important to the American citizens, to know their basic human rights and to be more connected to their government in comparison to the time of the British rule. The freedom and equality of the citizens was such a big thing that it was stated throughout the documents, specifically the Declaration of Independence states “all men are created equal...with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” They address the precedents that occurred by making laws, according to the Bill of Rights "no cruel and unusual punishments" are allowed. This was based on the precedent of being charged for going to jail for not paying off debt. This also included the tar and feathering which was common in the pre-revolutionary era. The ideal was to not have this happen anymore. Additionally, these documents provided proof to foreign countries that as "newbies" they know what they are doing and the reasons for it. Aside from stating the rights of individuals the passages, specifically the Declaration of Independence, states reasons as to why they made their decision of independence for“ the present king of Great Britain [King George III had] a history of repeated injuries and usurpations.”  It also shows a lot of precedent to show the beneficial change after the independence from Britain. The government wanted to show that the founding ideal was to not replicate King George's crude action's towards the citizen. In addition, United States' goal was to open up trade and allies with foreign countries, by writing these passages it established more credibility for us. 

Rhetoric 

The rhetoric of these documents are very important for the establishment of United States. The outline and diction of them are very professional and organized. The Bill of Rights is organized by limiting pronouns, being more formal and stating each article in ordinal numbers. The Preamble is organized by being the intro of a larger document; therefore, being the outline of the constitution. The Declaration of Independence follows a classical argument format. It's so easy to label each paragraph and decipher the intro, background, thesis, refutations etc. This shows a very educated composer and improves credibility to help persuade the audience of foreign countries and the people of United States to follow the documents. To further persuade the citizens of United States, both the Preamble and the Declaration both used pronouns that connected to the audience such as "our" and "we." This is important because it shows that the government acknowledges the people of the country, unlike during the times of the British rule. In a way it shows more of democratic nation, which the Founding Fathers aimed for. To further persuade other countries, the Declaration of Independence uses anaphora to state the fault of Britain, by supporting each repeated "he has" with a fault that the King has done. For example the Declaration of Independence states "He has constrained our fellow citizens to take captive on the high seas to bear against their country." Another important ideal was to state a person's right and not limit them; in the passages the right is stated and then it states how the government can "not" hurt it. An example of this was in the Bill of Rights it states "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." Overall the diction and syntax of these documents are important to help resonate the founding ideals of America. 

 Sources: Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, Preamble