Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Bill Johnson

What do these names have in common?  Over the weekend, an interesting historical fact was uncovered.  The original American bloggers were people like Franklin and Paine.  “The Pennsylvania Gazette” was one of several newspapers of the day owned by Franklin.  In it, a page would be kept blank at the conclusion of the publication for individuals to write down their thoughts and pass the newspaper along to a friend to read (and hopefully add their thoughts).
The appropriate term for Franklin and Paine was pamphleteer.  A pamphleteer was a term used for individuals who created and/or distributed pamphlets.  These pamphlets were venues to share opinions on an issue.

Revolutionary War leaders used this venue to break away from England, become patriots rather than terrorists, and birth a nation.  Can you imagine what will be born from today’s blog’s with this generation?

 

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.