Mind-Munitions

The American Revolution 135
occupying power that was proving itself incapable of governing
and for the ‘natural rights’ of men described by Tom Paine in his
best selling tract Common Sense.
All these events were accompanied by a barrage of propaganda,
with the American colonists recognizing the importance of
securing public support for their cause from the outset. Shortly
after the flight of British troops from Lexington and Concord, for
example, four engravings by Amos Doolittle appeared depicting
the scene in a fairly objective manner but were used to illustrate
more subjective accounts in newspapers of how simple farmers had
forced 1800 British regular troops to flight. One poem went:
How brave you went out with muskets all bright,
And thought to befrighten the folks with the sight;
But when you got there how they powder’d your pums,
And all the way home how they pepper’d your bums,
And is it not, honies, a comical farce,
To be proud in the face, and be shot in the a—se.
On a policy level, George Washington wrote his address To the
Inhabitants of Canada, distributed by Benedict Arnold’s army
during the ill-fated expedition to Quebec in 1775-6. The American
forces that besieged Quebec attempted to encourage its surrender
by firing further appeals to the inhabitants tied to Indian arrows.
When that tactic failed and the Americans proved unable to take
the city militarily, propaganda was used to try and counter the
effects of defeat. Congress’ appeal was the epitome of reason:
The best of causes are subject to vicissitudes; and disappointments
have ever been inevitable. Such is the lot of human nature. But
generous souls, enlightened and warmed with the sacred fire of liberty,
become more resolute as difficulties increase; and surmount, with
irresistible ardour, every obstacle that stands between them and the
favourite object of their wishes. We will never abandon you to the
unrelenting fury of your and our enemies.
Despite the establishment of French printing presses in Canada and
the recruitment of Catholic priests to explain their cause, the
Americans were forced to abandon their Canadian invasion and
concentrate their efforts on domestic and British opinion. Yet it would
appear that American propaganda played some role in neutralizing
Canadian opinion in the War of Independence. General Burgoyne,