Article: An Early 1785 American Catechism
An Early 1785 American Catechism
One of the earliest items in The Great Republic’s collection is a first edition, second issue of The A, B, C. With The Church of England Catechism, published in Philadelphia by Young, Stewart, and McCulloch in 1785. This scarce twelve-page pamphlet is an important example of early American religious and educational printing, produced for the newly established Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States in the years immediately following the American Revolution.
The pamphlet is significant for the way it records the transition from colonial British rule to American independence. Traditional Anglican catechisms contained language affirming loyalty to the British monarch, a formulation that was no longer compatible with the political realities of the nascent United States. Rather than simply reprinting an English text, the Philadelphia publishers deliberately adapted the catechism for its new American audience.
On the verso of the title page, an extraordinary publisher’s note explains that blank spaces on page six "were formerly filled up with the Words (King) and (him); but as that Form of Expression does not suit our Republican Governments, the teacher will be pleased to fill up the Blanks with what Words he may deem Expedient." Few surviving printed texts so clearly capture the ideological adjustments required as American institutions separated themselves from British traditions.
Similarly, the title page also reinforces this transformation. An engraved vignette bears the motto “Virtue, Liberty, and Independence,” encapsulating in three words the principles that many Americans believed should guide the nascent republic's future.
The pamphlet was both an elementary primer and a guide to Christian instruction. It begins with Roman and italic alphabets and a syllabary intended to assist young readers in mastering the fundamentals of literacy. It continues with the Church of England Catechism, prayers used at the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, and graces and hymns associated with Christmas and Easter observance. Its contents are proof that the education of its children and the moral formation of its citizens through religious instruction were important priorities of the early American republic.
The pamphlet's rarity, early Philadelphia imprint, publisher’s note, and explicit language of “Virtue, Liberty, and Independence” all make it a remarkable surviving record of a nation redefining its educational and religious identity after independence. You can shop this item online or in person in our Colorado Springs store.
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A Sermon Preached before his Honor Thomas Cushing,... the Honorable the Council and the Two Branches of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts May 28, 1783, being the Anniversary of the General Election, by Henry Cumings, 1783
