Overview of Early American Literacy and The Emergence of Print Culture
In the late 18th century to the early 19th century, America saw a rise in literacy as well as an emergence of a new popular print culture. In 1790, “approximately 85 percent of adult men in New England and 60 percent of those in Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake could read and write,” (Murrin). The literacy rate for women was also on the rise, though much lower than the male literacy rate at “about 45 percent in New England” (Murrin).
As the literacy rates increased at this time, so did the supply and variety of publications and reading materials. Correspondence by mail became extremely popular, tying in with the style in which The Power of Sympathy was written in: letters.
While The Power of Sympathy was released in 1789, American novels were not a popular or common publication in the United States in the late 18th century. As a result, this novel was considered the first American novel. The most common type of publication at that time was the newspaper.
With the boom in literacy and publication taking place, so did a sort of democratization of print. No longer were publications limited to the wealthy and well-educated: books, bibles, and newspapers were becoming available to the masses.
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