This Popular Engine: New England Newspapers During the American Revolution, 1775-1789

Description

During the Revolutionary era, newspapers were the most important source of information on public affairs. The number of public prints of New England grew during these years, rising from fifteen in April 1775 to thirty-two in April 1789. Most of this growth occurred outside of the large port cities, with many smaller ports and inland towns gaining their first weekly sheets during the 1780s. Still, a host of problems confronted participants in the trade. Acquisition of necessary materials usually proved difficult, either through lack of capital for its purchase or simply through lack of availability. Life seldom proved simple for printers, but most people who entered the business managed to succeed.
Newspapers of the Revolutionary era also contributed to the development of a free press. Printers declared that their sheets should be free from all outside interference, particularly from the civil authority. They insisted that a truly free press was necessary for a republican government to operate. Without it any government would eventually become a tyranny. A libertarian theory of a free press did not become commonplace until the nineteenth century, but the groundwork was laid by Revolutionary era printers.
The public view of newspapers changed during this time. No longer were they just purveyors of news and information to the "better sort"; now they belonged to everyone. The debate over the Constitution in 1787-88 transformed the public prints into the dominant public forum, outdistancing pamphlets and broadsides. From this point until at least the early twentieth century, newspapers were the major means of disseminating information to the people. The public prints increasingly reached out to inform an ever-growing readership about their country and the outside world.
The widening of the readership of the gazettes, chronicles, and journals enabled the press to perform its vital role. The press became increasingly democratized during the Revolutionary era; it reflected developments in the political arena as more and more people not only voted, but also became more directly involved in government, instructing their representatives and seeking offices previously held by their social betters. The public prints likewise contributed to political change. By proclaiming that newspapers were essential to inform people about the doings of their rulers, they inferred that all had a right to participate in government to protect their liberties. As both reflector and former of public opinion, the American newspapers--"this popular engine"--played an essential role in the democratic evolution of the United States.

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