INTRODUCTION: BEFORE THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
THE COLONIAL YEARS

Objectives
To understand the forerunners of mass communications.
To explain the printing revolution’s impact on society.
To understand America’s British roots of free expression.
To define the three types of colonial editors and early attempts to test free expression.
 

Today’s Discussion
Forerunners of the American Press
Printing as a Catalyst for Change
Early Controls on Free Expression
British Roots of Free Expression
Colonial Printers in British America
Tests of Free Expression in British America

Forerunners of Modern Media
First Broadcasters: Town Criers, Ministers, Bartenders

Forerunners of Modern Media
First Newspaper: Acta Diurna

Forerunners of Modern Media
First News Reporters: Scripture Writers

Impact of the Printing Press
Impact of Printing Press on Society
Produce cheap literature
Preserve information
Reproduce documents without error
Inspires new forms of writing
Allows works to be indexed
Affects social relationships

Controls to Limit Press Freedom
Licensing
Financial bonds
Seditious libel laws

Prior Restraint as a Control on Printing Press
Stationers’ Company
Star Chamber
Court of High Commission

Prior Restraint as a Control on Printing Press
Henry VIII (1509) assumes the throne
Punished those responsible for seditious libel
Required a license to operate a printing press

Prior Restraint and Two Queens
Queen Mary (1557) and the Stationers
Company
Queen Elizabeth (1570) and the Star Chamber

Royal Pain #1: Queen Mary
Stationers Company
Unlimited power
Could smash open doors of those publishing without authority
Mar type
Chop up illegal presses

Royal Pain #2: Queen Elizabeth
Star Chamber
Limited printing to London and two universities
Curtailed number of printers
Decreed that all books prior to printing be examined

James I
First English language news sheets (corrantos) published.
James I said threat to national security

Charles I
Increased power of the Star Chamber
All books had to be licensed and registered

Impacts of the English Civil War (1642-1649)
Period of relaxation for the press.
Star Chamber abolished.
Voices call for greater freedoms

British Roots of Free Expression
Voices of Dissent
John Milton
Thomas Hobbes
John Locke
Cato

John Milton (1608-1674)
Denounced government censorship in Areopagitica
God gave humans freedom to choose virtue or vice and the reason to know the difference
Licensing is weakness and cowardice in wars of truth

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
Solution to man’s depravity is the political state (commonwealth)
Citizens swear obedience
Commonwealth guarantees peace and order
Philosophical underpinnings of the American experience

John Locke (1632-1704)
Individuals have a right to determine the
nature of government
People are born equal and free
People have a right to overthrow
government

Cato John Trenchard (1662-1723) and Thomas Gordon (1685-1750)
Honest government should welcome public scrutiny
Freedom of the press implies open meetings, open records, press access to government deliberations
Truth should never be libelous

Lessons from the Past
Press belongs to those who rule
The more secure a government is, the more freedom it accords its press

British America
The colonial environment
New England colonies
Middle colonies
Southern colonies
The communications environment
The political/religious environment

The Colonial Environment
New England colonies (education/commercial)
Middle colonies (bread colonies/religious expatriates)
Southern colonies (agrarian)

British America
The Communications Environment
Wilderness absorbed energies of colonists
English papers satisfied the desire for news
Colonists had few ties to others
No support for a press existed

The Communications Environment
Communications: The fundamental ingredient for:Community
Men live in community by virtue of what they have in common and communication is the way they possess things in common.
Political discourse: Without communications political discourse is carried out by the elite.
Capitalism: Communications industry brings about the need for capital which demands that it takes place in cities.

Ingredients for a Press
Population increases
Wealth through farming
Seafarers encourage advertising
Postal service develops
Concept of self-government increases
House of Commons nixes Crown’s licensing power
Illiteracy is cut
Commercial shops thrive

The Political/Religious Environment
What did democracy mean?

Benjamin Harris (1690)
Printed something that looked like a newspaper

Benjamin Harris (1690)

Printers and Editors
John Campbell: Favored Printer
James Franklin: Dissident Printer
Benjamin Franklin: Cautious Printer

John Campbell: Favored Printer
Postmaster
Printer

John Campbell: Contributions
Printer of the first continuous newspaper in the New World

The Paper: Boston News-Letter
Printed by authority
Government subsidized
Shoestring operation

News in the Boston News-Letter
News from abroad
Contained no local news
Lifted items from other papers

James Franklin: Dissident Printer
Apprentice to Boston Gazette
Printer of the New England
Courant

News in New England Courant
Published without authority
Printed foreign and domestic news
Editorialized
Established crusade journalism

James Franklin’s Contributions
First to publish dissent
Tested limits of what a printer could do
Proved a newspaper need not be dull
Proved local matters could provide staple for future publications

James Franklin’s Contribution
Unshackled the press from the licenser

Ben Franklin: Cautious Editor
Apprentice to James Franklin
Bought the Pennsylvania Gazette

Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette
Most profitable paper
Best edited paper
Largest circulation
Highest ad revenue

Ben Franklin’s Contributions
Published first foreign-language newspaper in New World
Published one of the first magazines in NewWorld
Ben Franklin’s Major Contributions
Made journalism a respectable profession

A Sneak Preview of Coming Attractions
Public debate occurs when you move from monopoly to competition.
Stay tuned next week when newspaper competition helps unit a revolution.

Tests of Press Freedom
William Bradford
James Franklin
John Peter Zenger

Misconceptions of Press Freedom
Continuing struggles existed between royal
judges and writers. True or False?

Misconceptions of Press Freedom
Royal governors were a major threat to freedom.
True or False?

Misconceptions of Press Freedom
Popular assemblies were the greatest champions
of free expression. True or False?

The Colonial Court System
Juries decided only fact of publication
Defendant did publish remarks
Defendant did not publish remarks
Judges determined if remarks were seditious
Judges refused defendant to plead truth as a defense

The Trial of John Twyn
Tests of Press Freedom: William Bradford
The Prosecution
Printer charged with using his press to print tracts for a separatist faction that Quakers though heretical

Tests of Press Freedom: William Bradford
The Defense
Tract not seditious
No evidence Bradford was the printer
One should have the right to print truth
The jury should try whole of the matter

Tests of Press Freedom: William Bradford
The Verdict
Deadlocked 9 to 3 in favor of conviction

Tests of Press Freedom: William Bradford
The Importance
First time someone insisted that the jury determine both law and fact of a case

Tests of Press Freedom: James Franklin
The Prosecution
James Franklin ordered to refrain from seditious libel but defied order

Tests of Press Freedom: James Franklin
The Defense
When evil affects the public, criticism must be heard

Tests of Press Freedom: James Franklin
The Verdict
Grand jury refused to indict Franklin and, thus, no genuine court test made

Tests of Press Freedom: James Franklin
The Importance
Showed the growth of a newspaper publisher’s independence

Tests of Press Freedom: John Peter Zenger
The Prosecution
John Peter Zenger wrote seditious articles against the government

Tests of Press Freedom: John Peter Zenger
The Defense
Truth should be a complete defense
Jury should decide both law and fact of a case

Tests of Press Freedom: John Peter Zenger
The Verdict
Not guilty

Tests of Press Freedom: John Peter Zenger
The Importance
Awakened colonists’ conscience to the power a jury might have
Necessity of an unrestrained press
The right to criticize officials

Conclusion
The more secure a government is, the more freedom it accords its press.
Elected colonial representatives were more brutal in denying press freedom than the English crown.
The Zenger awaken the colonists’ conscience of the power a jury might have and need for an unrestrained press.