The seeds of the American Revolution were sown in the periods of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening. By the early 1700's nearly 90% of New England's white male population could read and write. This was almost three times the literacy rate of England. Though the average colonist had little to read beyond the family bible and an almanac, ideas were exchanged freely between conversations with neighbors, church sermons and town meetings. The more well to do colonists however could afford costly books and newspapers. This access to the written word sparked an age of optimism where human…
