The Print Revolution and the Great Awakening
George Whitefield made his first trip to North America in 1738, when he traveled to Savannah, Georgia. Benjamin Franklin published the first edition of this journal of his voyage in Philadelphia in 1739; the copy pictured here was printed a year later. Texts like this one highlight the importance of the print revolution to eighteenth-century culture: Whitefield was utterly unknown in North America until he began publicizing his ministry and his travels through such works. Enlightenment ideas, too, were conveyed to large and far-flung audiences in books, magazines, and newspapers. Library Company of Philadelphia.