The Changing Role of Printers and Newspapers from the Colonial Era to the American Revolution and Its Expansion into the Early 19th Century

The Changing Role of Printers and Newspapers from the colonial era to the American Revolution and its expansion into the early 19th century

Nia Neal

History of Mass Media

December 16, 2015

Professor Ari Sclar

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  When tensions increased between England and the colonies, newspapers, which had once indiscriminately printed items regardless of the viewpoint they presented found that such "objectivity" was no longer possible. (The Press & the American Revolution. Bernard Bailyn and John B. Hench. p45) Printers had once regarded themselves as craftsman in their work but the change in times allowed them to see their roles in a new light. In what would be the American Revolution of 1776, newspapers became the voice of Americans and its bold emergence of journalism in its biggest form yet. A printer from the 1500s magically transformed into the print shop of the late 1700s where the market for print quickly expanded. All the while before free speech and expression received legal protection. After the creation of the printing press by Gutenberg in the 1450s, news in the form of wide sheets, pamphlets and books (particularly the Bible), made its way to the public: the young, the old, the rich and the uneducated. A revolution was stirring and amongst the smoke was the procuration of knowledge among all. Would people have stayed ignorant to the world around them otherwise? In history, revolutionary changes in politics have brought about revolutionary changes in communications and for the better. The newspaper was the public sphere and wavered many decisions. It is documented in works of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” and many other series of pamphlets and newsletters to explain the idea of revolution in words that people could understand.

  In 1754, four newspapers only were printed in New England, these were all published in Boston and usually, on a small sheet. They were published weekly and the average number of copies did not exceed six hundred from each press. (“Newspapers in Revolutionary Era America & The Problems of Patriot and Loyalist Printers”; E Pluribis Unum)The first newspaper ever published in the colonies was Publick Occurrences both Foreign and Domestick: a three page, six-by-ten-

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inch, 5300 word, single issue newspaper dated “Boston, Thursday, September 25, 1690.” (America Goes to Press, Louis Solomon, p11) Its stated purpose was that "the country shall be furnished once a month with an account of such considerable things as have arrived unto our notice." (Publick Occurrences, 1690) The editor, as well as publisher and reporter was Benjamin Harris who was a very intriguing man with interests of such gripping and riveting stories both foreign and domestic. Harris came to America to flee the constraints of England. He had served jail time for the crime of publishing and possessive seditious literature, (Solomon, pg12) but in the colonies, as it was in England, his newspaper still needed consent of the Crown. The Council of Massachusetts colony could only have the paper published for so long “without the least Countenance of Authority”. Not only did Harris not have permission from the Crown, he did not have the license to print a paper. In fact, he never applied for one. Unfortunately for Harris, conflict with the authorities continued in the colonies. The authorities that Harris dared to report that English military forces had allied themselves with "miserable" savages, put him out of business four days later. On September 29, 1690, the Governor and Council of Massachusetts issued an order forbidding the publication of "anything in Print without License first obtained from those that are or shall be appointed by the Government to grant the same." (Mass.Historical Society)

   In 1704 came the publication of the Boston News-Letter, the first regularly published paper in the colonies. Years after Publick Occurences was silenced, founding publisher and editor of the Boston News-Letter, John Campbell followed in Harris’s path. The first issue, a 12-by-7 inch single sheet printed on both sides included a lengthy article informing of the currents events in England and Scotland with abstracts from the London Gazette the London Flying Post.(Boston

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News Letter, pg1) Still under the rule of the Crown, the paper prominently proclaimed “Published by Authority”. (Solomon, p15) The local news occupied only one column on page 2, consisting of brief notices of arrivals and upcoming activities; the appointment of Nathanael Byfield as Judge of the Admiralty; and the preaching of an "excellent" sermon by Rev. Mr. Ebenezer Pemberton of Boston's Old South Church on 1 Thessalonians 4.11: "And do your own business." The paper concluded with Campbell informing the public that the newsletter would be continued weekly. (Boston News-Letter, pg 2) Campbell’s ascent into the newspaper business began with his duty as a postmaster in which he would disseminate government notices which would coordinate colonial matters and kept colonials current with their duties to the Crown. In fact, in order to avoid trouble with the authorities, the paper would occasionally mention the “slaying of pirate chief Blackbeard, a public whipping or suicide…” The Boston News-Letter was the only newspaper to continue its publication in Boston during the opening phase of the Revolution. The last issue appeared in February of 1776 after 72 years in which it succumbed to its competitor the Boston Gazette and James Franklin’s New England Courant.