Print, Parades, Spheres of all sorts So many definitions are there of the public sphere. One canrange from a scale as small as a township to a scale as large as anational government. In the earlier post-revolutionary days of theUnited States, just what the United States actually was and what itmeant were still being defined. Now that the revolution was over,words such as nationalism and patriotism must be redefined. Manypoliticians, political groups, and the general public all desired to havea say in what they believed to be the true nature of this newly formedcountry. The best way to do this, of course, is in a public formatwhere people could listen to the opinions of others, or retort and giveopinions of their own. Parades or processions were an effective wayof a public showing of opinion; they were highly publicized and veryvisible. Now, however, they were newer, more advanced ways thatones ideas could get around to many more people than before. Theprinting press was perhaps the greatest manner in which ideasspread. Events such as the aforementioned parades or processionscould now be reported on, as could public debates between candidatesstanding for office, social dinners and the toasts which were proposed,pamphlets could be printed, and an abundance of other socialhappenings. The question of exactly how these parades and printculture affect Americans views of nationalism yet remains. However,what is for certain is that these two aspects of early,post-revolutionary America greatly advanced the bringing forth ofpolitical ideas into the public sphere.What print actually accomplished was the spreading of ideas toa greater number of people. This was also quite a benefit because theamount of people who were taking interest in political issues wasgrowing as well. Now, politics was not an issue to be delt with solelyby the upper-class. David Waldstreicher in writing about the effectthat print had on public celebrations, such...
