My prologue introduces the main arguments and arc of the book. As I explain, Revolutionary Ink traces two interrelated but ultimately opposing currents. Beginning in 1693, it shows how New York’s printing presses initially inspired fealty to the British Commonwealth. It then registers a seismic shift at the end of the French and Indian War in 1763 when loyalty to the “ancient” liberties of all Freeborn Englishmen became paramount, a process of “Americanization” spurred by colonial presses up and down the Atlantic seaboard. I also point out that the work is neither a triumphant Whig narrative nor a teleologically inevitable one. More accurately, sheets printed in ink are transformative agents of change, with largely unforeseen consequences across changing historical and interpretive contexts. Drawing on a large body of scholarship across disciplines, Revolutionary Ink seeks to identify some of these changes in a distinct and crucial setting, unveiling a history of a city of divergent ideas, people, and institutions evolving over time, both influenced by print media and influencing it.