Catalyst of a Revolution

By Wes Westmoreland |  Special Guest Op-Ed Columnist for The Shelby Independent

OPINION – Ink-stained hands methodically distributed lead soldiers into the wooden case. Robert Bell had known tough times in Scotland, and even tougher times in Dublin, but these times were different.

It had been only five years since he arrived in Philadelphia and set up a press. In those few years, he had become a widely recognized printer and publisher, creating a market by offering low-cost editions of well-known English writings. The Stamp Act created a shortage of paper, and the current hostilities had exacerbated the problem into a difficulty.

Robert found it rather ironic. He was one of few printers that did not have any government contracts, yet it was the government— three months journey removed— that was stifling business. How was he to produce a book without paper, he wondered to himself. Realizing he had fouled the case as his thoughts rambled, his mind refocused on sorting type. Time was of the essence; he had to get started on his new commission.

Earlier in the week, a newly-arrived Englishman had stopped in to see him about printing a new pamphlet. Mr. Paine had written a series of letters, intended for publication in newspapers, but had been persuaded to compile it into a booklet, yet he could find no one to produce it. He explained that upon reading, other printers feared confiscation of their presses, or worse.

Robert’s mind turned to James Riverton. Like many printers, Riverton had chosen sides, in his case, in favor of the Crown. Riverton’s press was subsequently destroyed by the Sons of Liberty and his newspaper had gone out of business. Robert had taken a different course. Bell’s house was known for producing jobs both for and against patriot sentiment. He was glad to pick up the work.

1775 was drawing to a close and tensions were high, not just in Philadelphia, but throughout the colonies. Word had reached Philadelphia from the fourth most populous colony, North Carolina, of a declaration of independence in Charlotte-town months earlier; Robert simply must take full advantage of the current disposition and was already considering advertisements in the newspapers about this upcoming booklet.

As he began work toward the January 1776 publication deadline, Robert’s hands moved skillfully, picking each letter and placing it in the stick. As the letters became words, the words became sparks, and sentences combined into volatile paragraphs. He could almost feel heat radiating from the lead type in his hand.

The meaning of the words weighed upon him as he carefully read galley proofs:

“O! ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth! Every spot of the old world is overrun with oppression. Freedom hath been hunted round the globe. Asia and Africa have long expelled her. Europe regards her as a stranger, and England hath given her warning to depart. O! receive the fugitive and prepare in time an asylum for mankind.”

He realized this was not just another pamphlet against taxation, it was the path to revolution, and a new premise of governance… “Securing freedom and property to all men, and above all things, the free exercise of religion”.

America was thus to be a refuge of Liberty. His hands trembled with understanding as he inked the next form.

When Common Sense was finally finished, words burned off the page and into the hearts and minds of the colonial population. The work of those ink-stained fingers became the most published book in the colonies other than the Bible. It led directly to action at the Providential Congress in Halifax, North Carolina, when in April when the colony became the first to direct its representatives the Continental Congress to vote in favor of independence, and then ultimately to the action in Philadelphia on the Fourth of July, when the colonies adopted the words of Mr. Jefferson’s declaration.

Unfortunately, a controversy grew between Robert Bell and Thomas Paine almost immediately, and the two never reconciled. Bell went on to produce the first printing of Mr. Jefferson’s Declaration in book form, only days after the printing of the famous Dunlap broadside and enjoyed a successful career in publishing and bookselling, while the words of Thomas Paine are now set by the hands of time in the annals of history.

Wes Westmoreland is president and founder of Westmoreland Printers, Inc., co-founder and vice-chair of Pinnacle Classical Academy, a public charter school in Shelby, North Carolina, and a director of Polyhymnia, a think-tank advancing American culture through engagement with the aesthetic and philosophical foundations of Western society.

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