List of pamphlet wars
This is a list of
pamphlet wars in history. For several centuries after the printing press became common, people would print their own ideas in small pamphlets somewhat akin to modern blogs:[1] while these could not be widely available via the internet they could "go viral",[2] because others were free to reprint pamphlets they liked, and therefore ideas were widely spread.[3] Counter-arguments would then be printed in opposing pamphlets, which might become popular themselves. A prolonged debate carried out this way changed society many times, until copyright laws effectively banned the propagation of ideas in this way.[4][citation needed
]
- 1517 — The 95 Theses is simply the most famous salvo in a prolonged pamphlet war that ended up triggering the secession of much of Europe from the Catholic Church (and later reform of that organization), after similar efforts had failed in the past without the printing press to support them.[citation needed]
- 1640 — Bishops' Wars — John Milton participated in antiprelatical pamphlet wars, opposing the policies of William Laud.[5]
- 1642 — The English Civil War — Much of the buildup to the actual civil war was driven by an extensive, often heated, debate via pamphlet.[6]
- 1654 — The Nature of Free Will — Thomas Hobbes and John Bramhall engaged in an intense debate over the nature of free will in humanity.[7]
- 1655 — Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in support of liberalization.[8]
- 1680 — The Popish Plot — An invented controversy used to drum up anti-Catholic hysteria in England and Scotland.[9]
- 1688 — The Socinian controversy — A debate on christology by Church of England theologians.[10] John Locke was a notable participant.
- 1697 — Nonconformity — Daniel Defoe was eventually imprisoned by Queen Anne as a nonconformist who had advocated for her predecessor, William III during a pamphlet war over his policies, including the arguably illegal maintenance of a standing army during peacetime, widely recognized as a threat to liberty, but defended by .[11][failed verification][12]
- 1707 — Queen Anne's Governor — A pamphlet war in Boston, criticizing Queen Anne's choice of governor for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, a proxy attack criticizing Queen Anne's War.[13]
- 1721 — Bank of Ireland Charter — One of the many rhetorical conflicts in which Jonathan Swift took part, attacking what he and Daniel DeFoe called "air money", certificates of gold or land deposits being used like paper money by the Bank of Ireland.[14]
- 1764 — The
- 1765 — The Stamp Act — A tax imposed on the American colonies after the Seven Years' War sparked a pamphlet war that helped set the terminology and arguments for the American Revolution a decade later.[16]
- 1776 — Common Sense.[17]
- 1787 — Federalism — In the US, the most famous pamphlet war was probably the debate over the US Constitution[The Anti-Federalist Papers, the former including James Madison, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton, the latter George Clinton (writing as Cato), Melancton Smith (writing as Brutus), and Richard Henry Lee(writing as the Federal Farmer).
- 1789 — The Revolution Controversy — A literary struggle in England over how to view the French Revolution, and what it meant about monarchy and the right of self-determination, in general. This debate involved Thomas Paine, William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, Edmund Burke, and Richard Price[18]
- 1809 — Christian Missions in India — A debate over the acceptability of British Christians attempting to convert colonies ruled by the empire, a practice that went against the tradition of non-interference in local religions.[19]
References
- ^ The Blogosphere and the New Pamphleteers
- ^ a b The Paxton Pamphlet War as a Viral Media Event
- ^ How Luther went viral
- ^ The Myth of Copyright at Common Law
- ^ Wheeler, Elizabeth. "Early Political Prose" in A Companion to Milton. Ed. Thomas Corns. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. p. 265–275
- ^ A Pamphlet War in England, 1641-1643
- ^ The Well-ordered Universe: The Philosophy of Margaret Cavendish
"William Cavendish invited Hobbes and Bishop Bramhall to his home to discuss human freedom, and, at his request, Bramhall and Hobbes both later wrote down their views. Hobbes' manuscript was translated into French, and, years later, in 1654, the translator published Hobbes' original manuscript without his permission. A pamphlet war between Bramhall and Hobbes ensued." - ^ The Debate over the Resettlement of Jews in England, 1655–56
In the years 1655–56, the controversy over the readmission of Jews was fought out in a pamphlet war. The issue divided religious radicals from each another as well as from more conservative members of society. William Prynne was vehemently opposed to permitting Jews to return, the Quaker Margaret Fell no less passionately in favor. - ISBN 9781872031354.
- ^ The Reasonableness of Christianity? Gilbert Burnet and the Trinitarian Controversy of the 1690s
- ^ Daniel Defoe
- ^ The Political Ideas of Daniel Defoe
An Argument Showing That a Standing Army with Consent of Parliament is Not Inconsistant with a Free Government, (1698) - ^ [1] Is the Governor Corrupt? A Pamphlet War in Boston
- ^ [2] Swift, the Book, and the
Irish Financial Revolution
"The pamphlet war over the bank that took shape during the parliamentary session apparently did much to undermine confidence in the bank and its paper credit." - ^ restricted access Unmasking the Paxton Boys: The Material Culture of the Pamphlet War
- ^ Pamphlet Wars, Arguments on Paper from the Age of Revolutions
- ^ The Pamphlet War and the Boston Massacre
- ^ Scoundrels in Context: The Pamphlet Wars of the 1790s
- ^ A PAMPHLET WAR ON CHRISTIAN MISSIONS IN INDIA 1807-1809