THE PRESS AND THE FOUNDING OF A NATION
Objective
nTo explain how political parties used the press as political instruments.
Today’s Story
nWhat the Revolution Did and Did Not Do
nCompeting Political Philosophies in Competing Newspapers
nThe Role of the Party
nThe Role of the Press
nThe Presidents and the Press
The Revolution: It Did Not
nEliminate control from the elite
nEliminate less democratic practices
nEliminate property requirements for voting
nEliminate the upper chamber of state legislators from blocking demands of the majority
The Revolution: It Did Do
nGovernment derived power from consent of the governed
nMiddling ranks of society gain office
nElected assemblies gain control
nElection of legislators
nBills of rights preface constitutions
nPublic discussions
Directions for a Nation
nContinue to experiment with social change
nMake right of property the fundamental consideration
nArrangements to do both
Struggle for Control
nMerchants, bankers, manufacturers who wanted to preserve the economic advantage
nSmall farmers, city wage earners, intellectuals, philosophers who wanted social reform
The U.S. Constitution
nSupporters
nFederalists
nBill of Rights not necessary
nOpponents
nAnti-Federalists
nBill of Rights necessary
The U.S. Constitution
nSupporters
nFederalists
nBill of Rights not necessary
nOpponents
nAnti-Federalists
nBill of Rights necessary
Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist
nHAMILTON
nFavored a strong Federal Government
nPushed for an economy in which trade, finance and manufacturing supplemented agriculture
nFeared closer relations with France and was an Anglophile
nWanted the U.S. to have a professional federal army
nJEFFERSON
nArgued strongly for states’ rights
nAdmired framing and the simple, rural life and hoped America would remain an agrarian nation
nFavored warm, fraternal relations with France and was an Anglophobe
nThought the country should rely on state militias
The Dark Days of Journalism
nFederalists Editor
nJohn Fenno
Federalists Newspaper
nGazette of the United States
nChief Contributor
nAlexander Hamilton
nAnti-Federalists Editor
nPhilip Freneau
nAnti-Federalists Newspaper
nNational Gazette
nChief Contributor
nThomas Jefferson
The Role of the Party Press
nAct as spokesman of a political and improve what the politician said.
nThus, political leaders had what they would never enjoy again: separate worlds for what they said and what they published.
Political Reporting in Party Press Era
nNo clear model from old world on how to report public discourse
nThe craft remained personal and eclectic
nReporters believed they would prosper as their craft made government virtuous
nSectional distrust aided reporters
The Press as a Political Instrument
nPromote political ideals
nSupport party principles
nDefend the party and its politicians
nProvide information
nInfluence public opinion
nPreach party line
nAttack opponents
nProvide a method of electioneering
Officials’ Attitudes Toward the Press
nPublic business was not transacted in print.
nSupreme Court did not publish its decisions.
nThe Senate forbade members on the floor from reading any printed paper while a Senator was speaking.
nCongress did not preserve debates.
George Washington’s Views of the Press
nGeorge Washington
nA simple ambivalence
George Washington
nGeorge Washington
nAs a Virginia planter, an advertising convenience
nAs a commander in the field, a source of information
George Washington
nAs president, supported a free press to provide information citizens needed to operate a
republic
Characteristics of 20th Century Free Press That Developed with George Washington
nRight to criticize government officials
nRight to obtain information about government
nAbility of president to manage the news and its press
John Adams
nPress ought to present America in the best possible light
nPublic silence in the fact of newspaper attacks
Thomas Jefferson
n“And were it left to me to decide whether we should have the government without newspapers, or newspapers with a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798
nNaturalization Law
nRequired immigrants to resident in the U.S. for 14 years instead of 5
Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
nAlien Enemies Law
nGave the president the legal right to expel those the government considered “dangerous.”
Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
nSedition Act
nCurtailed criticism of government
Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
nThe Rider
nTruth should be a complete defense in libel cases
Test of Press Freedom: Harry Croswell Trial
nBackground
nPublished The Wasp, a weekly.
nReported that Jefferson paid James Callender, a Richmond Editor, to spread the word that Washington has been a robber, traitor, and perjurer.
Test of Press Freedom:Harry Croswell Trial
nBackground
nIndicted on a charge of libeling the President.
nFound guilty and appealed to the State Supreme Court.
Test of Press Freedom:Harry Croswell Trial
nArgument by Alexander Hamilton
nTruth should be a complete defense in libel cases.
nJury should determine both law and fact of a case.
Test of Press Freedom:Harry Croswell Trial
nSignificance
nNew York Legislature passed law providing truth to be admitted in defenses.
nJury given the right to determine law and fact.
nOther states followed.
nSupreme Court rules that federal government could not prosecute under the old law.
Impact of Party Press on American Journalism
nNoah Webster, editor of American Minerva and Herald
nForerunner of the editorial page, running editorial in the same place in every edition
nPublished the first bulldog or updated edition
Impact of Party Press on American Journalism
nWilliam Cobbet, editor of Porcupine’s Gazette
nIntroduced investigative journalism to America
Conclusion
nNewspapers were controlled by contending political parities and their leaders.
nThe scurrilous press reflected the times in that the American party political system was already producing lying, manipulating, cheating, violence, and other dismal attributes which have always gone had in hand with its virtues.
Conclusion
nNewspapers reflected a nation that was still half civilized, violent, poorly educated, profoundly uncertain of how its newly devised political system ought to work and deeply divided still on exactly what form the system should take.
nThe nation’s editors were not in the hands of talented writers or publishers.