Short, Illustrated, and Engaging: Challenges from the American Tract Society

The Address of the Executive Committee of the American Tract Society

Established in 1825, the American Tract Society had the same mission as the ABS – to evangelize the country. Its business model, however, targeted its audience much more effectively by producing religious, yet engaging short stories that were quick to read, inexpensive to produce, and easy to distribute.

Arthur and Alice

Arthur and Alice is an 8 page tract that features a story of a devoutly religious girl who attempts to convert a wealthy, rude, and ungodly boy to Christianity in order to save him from his sins. Tracts such as this one provided readers with a moral message much clearer and quicker than the Bible.

Sleeping in Church

A four page tract, Sleeping in Church attempts to reinforce Sabbath attendance and attentiveness, threatening readers that there is no sleeping in eternity.

The Dairyman's Daughter

Having circulated over fourteen million copies, The Dairyman’s Daughter highlights the religious transformation of Elizabeth Wallbridge after hearing a revival sermon in her local church. Wallbridge was intended to serve as model for all Americans in their faith.

How to Become a Christian

Henry Ward Beecher, the son of Lyman Beecher, and a member of the tract society, emphasizes the immediacy of conversion, indirectly promoting the use of tracts instead of lengthy Bibles and sermons.

Narratives of the Usefulness of Tracts

In 1831, Rev. Justin D. Edwards of Boston preached on the effectiveness of tracts, corroborating the mission of the tract society by noting remarkable impacts on "the profane, the intermperate, and the heathen."

First Annual Report of the American Tract Society, 1826

While the ABS was struggling to financially subsist, the American Tract Society, because of its business model, printed millions of tracts and had a revenue of over $30,000 in just one year.