Transcript of video presentation by Robin Shields
July 1776 was pivotal in the history of the United
States and the history of democracy. The American
Revolution was little more than a civil war. The
Continental Army was outnumbered three to one by
the British and their German mercenaries. The British
Navy dominated the high seas, cutting off supplies
and arms. America was seeking support both domestically
and internationally. The Continental Congress met
in Philadelphia to draft a declaration of independence
which would clearly state the reasons for the Revolution
and hopefully garner desperately needed arms and
ammunition and soldiers. Thomas Jefferson wrote the
original draft which was revised in committee and
by the whole Congress. It was printed as a broadside
on July 4 and distributed to be read publicly throughout
the colonies. To achieve even wider distribution,
Congress ordered it to be printed in newspapers as
well.
The Continental Congress saw the Declaration of Independence
as a powerful tool. The support of nations like France,
the Netherlands, and Poland was crucial. Declaring
independence made it possible to take the Revolution
out of the arena of civil war and put it directly on
the international stage as a war for independence.
The simplicity and eloquence of the Declaration of
Independence immediately gained the attention of the
world and has inspired democratic movements ever since.
Getting the word out was a priority.
On the evening of July 4, 1776, John Dunlap, a Philadelphia
printer, took the manuscript copy of the Declaration
and printed it as a single-sheet broadside. It took
a little longer for it to appear in newspapers.
Colonial printers held a unique position in the history
of American printing. Printers in Great Britain had
a legal monopoly on most printed material, such as
the English-language Bible, dictionaries, encyclopedias,
and all maps. American printers were limited to producing
newspapers, almanacs, sermons, addresses, pamphlets,
primers and other lesser items. To make ends meet,
most colonial printers had other jobs. Many maintained
book shops and dry-goods stores. A number of printers
were also postmasters. Printers were by default editors,
publishers, and distributors. Because they had to wear
many hats, they had great influence in the colonies.
One of their crowning achievements was the nationwide
distribution of the Declaration of Independence. Each
of its printings has something important to tell us
about life in the United States at the time of the
nation's birth.
Benjamin Towne, a Philadelphia printer located "in
Front-street, near the London Coffee-House," was
the first to print the Declaration in a newspaper.
On July 6, 1776, The Pennsylvania Evening Post, which
was published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday,
carried the Declaration on the front page. At this
time Towne was an ardent patriot. However, Towne was
an opportunist and a turncoat. He switched sides several
times during the war, depending on whether the British
or the Americans were occupying Philadelphia at the
time. By the end of the war he was viewed as a traitor.
He lost most of his subscribers and advertisers. He
started printing The Pennsylvania Evening Post every
day, making it the first daily newspaper in the United
States. By that time it was reduced to a single sheet
and he hawked it himself on the street. He was not
successful, and ceased publication in 1784.
On July 10, Mary Katherine Goddard devoted the front
page of her newspaper, The Maryland Journal and The
Baltimore Journal, to the Declaration. Mary Goddard
was one of thirty woman printers in the colonies. Printing
was one the few professions open to women at this time.
Money was scarce throughout the Revolution. Mary's
subscribers often paid in goods rather than cash. To
raise cash, Mary opened a store adjacent to the print
shop, selling the goods she received. She was the first
woman in the American colonies to serve as postmaster,
a position she filled for fourteen years. The prejudice
at this time against women making a profit led to her
dismissal as postmaster. She petitioned Congress and
wrote George Washington appealing her dismissal, to
no avail. She spent her remaining years running her
own book shop.
The Pennsylvania Gazette was the most successful newspaper
in colonial America. It owed its success to Benjamin
Franklin, who wrested control of the paper from Samuel
Keimer in 1729 and then used his influence as postmaster
to increase its circulation and list of subscribers.
Franklin introduced the editorial column, humor, and
the first weather report--and the first cartoon, the
famous drawing of a divided snake with the caption "Join
or Die," which appeared in 1754 in response to
the French and Indian massacres of settlers in Virginia
and Pennsylvania. By 1776, the paper was owned and
run by David Hall Jr., the son of Franklin's partner,
David Hall Sr., and William Sellers. On July 10, 1776,
they printed the Declaration of Independence on columns
one and two. On column three are two of fourteen advertisements
for rewards of the return of slaves and indentured
servants. This traffic in human beings was a fact of
life and big business in the colonies. Advertisements
about the slaves for sale and runaways of all sorts--including
slaves, apprentices, wives, indentured servants as
well as deserters--was also a major source of revenue
for colonial newspapers. This newspaper shows the world
of radical inequalities from which the Declaration's
affirmation that "all men are created equal" emerged.
The Pennsylvania Journal was the major competitor
to The Pennsylvania Gazette. It was owned and run by
William Bradford and his son Thomas. In 1754 he established
the London Coffee-House, which served as the seat of
the merchants' exchange in Philadelphia. The Bradfords
were the official printers to the First Continental
Congress. On July 10, 1776, he printed the Declaration
of Independence on page one. He was a colonel in the
Pennsylvania militia and fought bravely during the
War. He was severely wounded at the Battle of Princeton
and afterwards his health and business declined rapidly.
His dying words to his children were, "Though
I bequeath you no estate, I leave you in the enjoyment
of liberty." He was the outstanding soldier-editor
of the Revolution, and his career shows both the close
connection between journalism and politics and how
deeply personal the Revolutionary cause could be for
some printers.
The Journal was a zealous advocate for the American
Revolution. John Holt, the printer, showed his support
in his imaginative masthead. The double coiled snake
with its tail in its mouth proclaims on the body, "United
Now Alive and Free, Firm on the basis Liberty shall
stand, And thus supported, ever bless our land, Till
Time becomes Eternity." The snake swallowing its
tail is a symbol for eternity. Within the coils is
a pillar standing on the Magna Carta surmounted by
the cap of liberty. The pillar on each side is supported
by six arms and hands, representing the colonies. On
July 11, Holt devoted a whole page to the Declaration
of Independence, using a large typeface and embellishing
it with a border of printers’ decorations, the
most elaborate printing of a government document up
to this time.
The New York Packet began publication in January 1776, "in
Water-Street, between the Coffee-House and the Old
Slip." Again we have a newspaper adjacent to a
coffee-house. The printer was Samuel Loudon, a young
Irishman, who printed his newspaper on Thursday, so
the earliest he could print the Declaration was on
Thursday, July 11. The front page is devoted to a speech
in the House of Lords by the Duke of Richmond. The
Declaration does not appear until page two, column
three.
At first I could not understand why this speech would
be more important than the Declaration, but when you
read the speech you find that there was a fierce debate
in the House of Lords on the Revolution. The Duke of
Richmond questions the ability of the British to finance
such a war and worries about the world's reaction to
Great Britain's destroying the farms, homes, and lives
of colonials. He even mentions the trial of Ethan Allen
and describes this patriot as the worst type of man
but useful in that he can be traded for British prisoners
of war. After reading this diatribe on the American
Revolution, the reader comes to the Declaration of
Independence. If the reader had any doubts about the
need for independence, the Richmond speech would quickly
change his mind. Reading the Declaration roused the
reader to support and fight for freedom. This is a
perfect piece of revolutionary propaganda.
James Humphreys Jr. was a Tory who had taken an oath
of allegiance to the King of England. His paper, The
Pennsylvania Ledger, sported the King’s Arms
in the masthead; however, he promises political impartiality
in his byline. Benjamin Towne, the opportunistic printer
of The Pennsylvania Evening Post, hounded Humphreys
for his political beliefs and was able to drive him
out of town in order to get a share of the congressional
printings. In an effort to appease his readers, Humphreys
dropped the King’s Arms from his masthead on
June 22.
He published the Declaration of Independence on July
13 on page two. On the front page he printed a large
ad for the second edition of Thomas Paine's seminal
work Common Sense. Humphreys was a distributor for
this work and used his newspaper to generate business
for book sales. Page one also carries a debate from
the House of Lords dated March 5. The Revolution is
the main topic of discussion. The interesting note
here is that there seems to be no unity among the Lords
in their opinions on the war. A reader gets the impression
that ambivalence and division is rampant so that by
the time one reads the Declaration, it seems that independence
is not impossible.
The Connecticut Courant is the oldest continuously
printed newspaper in America. It was established by
Samuel Green, the scion of a famous printing family
in Connecticut. When Samuel died, his partner Ebenezer
Watson took over the paper. After the British captured
New York, The Connecticut Courant became the largest
newspaper in the Northeast. Ebenezer was famous for
his humanity and loyalty to independence. He discarded
the King's Arms as the masthead and substituted the
Arms of Connecticut. On July 15, 1776, he printed the
Declaration of Independence on page two, following
another report of speeches in the Parliament showing
growing support for the American cause.
After Ebenezer died of smallpox in 1777, his wife,
Hannah, took over the press. She was the first woman
printer in Connecticut and successfully ran the printing
house through great adversity, including a disastrous
fire that destroyed the Courant's paper mill. She petitioned
the Connecticut Legislature for a loan to restore the
mill. Within a day, the legislature approved a state-run
lottery to support the rebuilding of the mill, and
the Courant didn't miss an issue. Its printing of the
Declaration after the pro-American speeches in Parliament
shows another way printers could subtly shape support
for independence, and its subsequent history confirms
the importance of women printers in the Revolutionary
era.
John Rogers began The American Gazette on June 22,
1776, but it only lasted a few weeks. This was enough
time to include the Declaration of Independence in
his July 16 issue. The Declaration is on the first
page and the last page of the four pages of the paper.
Inside is the speech of Lord Richmond, described earlier
in The New York Packet. Rogers used the same masthead
as the Journal, an interesting engraving of a ship
with a book surrounded by the Angel of Liberty and
an Indian Chief. Like Samuel Loudon, he understood
how Lord Richmond's speech could be used as propaganda
to tilt public opinion in favor of independence.
Thomas and Samuel Green were sons of the Samuel Green
who established a printing dynasty in New England.
These brothers published The Connecticut Journal between
1767 and 1809. They published the Declaration of Independence
on July 17. It appeared on the second page, set off
by a crude decorative border made up of miscellaneous
pieces of type that separate the Declaration from the
rest of the text.
Edward Powars and Nathaniel Willis purchased The New
England Chronicle from Samuel Hall on June 13, 1776.
They ran the Declaration on the front page. Inoculation
for smallpox was important in 1776, as its far safer
and more effective modern form has become again today.
The ad in Powars's and Willis's newspaper illuminates
one of the major dangers that threatened to undermine
the American struggle for independence.
The Essex Journal was started by Isaiah Thomas on
December 4, 1773. Thomas was a prolific printer, editor,
writer, and author of the definitive History of Printing
in America from which much of the information on pre-Revolutionary
newspapers comes. He founded the American Antiquarian
Society, the most important repository of eighteenth-century
American newspapers in the world. Thomas sold his rights
to the newspaper to Ezra Lunt in 1774 who then sold
to John Mycall.
Mycall printed the Declaration on page one. The masthead
includes the familiar images of the American Indian
and the sailing ship. Following the Declaration, there
is a proclamation delivered on July 4 in Watertown,
Massachusetts, calling for August 1 to be a day of "public
humiliations, fasting and prayer," to bring an
end to the British atrocities against Americans. The
proclamation ends with the emphatic declamation "GOD
save AMERICA!"
John Dixon and William Hunter printed the Declaration
of Independence on page two of their July 20 issue
of The Virginia Gazette out of Williamsburg, Virginia.
Dixon and Hunter owned one of three newspapers titled "Virginia
Gazette" in Williamsburg at this time. On June
1, 1776, they printed George Mason’s Declaration
of Rights adopted by the Virginia constitutional convention.
Thomas Jefferson closely followed the wording and ideas
of this document, as can be seen in its words "That
all men are born equally free and independent, and
have certain inherent natural rights, of which they
cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity;
among which are, the enjoyment of life and liberty,
with the means of acquiring and possessing property,
and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety." The
material the Gazette printed in the weeks surrounding
the appearance of the Declaration of Independence supports
Jefferson's contention that the Declaration was not
an original work but "an expression of the American
mind."
Benjamin Edes was a great patriot and printer centered
in Boston. When the British took Boston he escaped
by night in a boat with a press and a few types. He
opened a printing house in Watertown, Massachusetts,
where he continued publishing his paper The Boston
Gazette. The quality of printing suffered greatly due
to the deprivations of war. Printing presses, typefaces,
ink and paper were all imported from England. Edes
had to work with worn type, poor quality ink, and a
severe shortage of paper. The available paper was barely
fit for printing. To address the paper shortage, Edes
advertised for rags from which paper was made. On the
last column of page one, along with the Declaration
of Independence, Edes advertises "Cash given for
clean Cotton and Linen RAGS, at the Printing-Office
in Watertown." The Declaration appears here amid
evidence of what the war for independence cost printers
and their profession.
Alexander Purdie was born in Scotland, where he learned
the printing trade. He printed the Declaration of Independence
in his Virginia Gazette on the front page on July 26,
1776. At the top of column one he printed this notice: "In
COUNCIL, July 20, 1776, Ordered THAT the printers publish
in their respective Gazettes the DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE
made by the Honourable of the Continental Congress,
and that the sheriff of each county of this commonwealth
proclaim the same at the door of his courthouse the
first court day after he shall have received the same." This
notice is primary evidence of Congress's intent to
use newspapers to print and disburse a government document.
Purdie's patriotism is readily apparent in the newspaper
masthead, where the Arms of Virginia include the famous
phrase "Don't Tread on Me" and below the
masthead is the subtitle "High Heaven to Gracious
Ends directs the Storm!" On page two following
the Declaration is the following report: "Williamsburg,
July 26. Yesterday afternoon, agreeable to an order
of the Hon. Privy Council, the Declaration of Independence
was solemnly proclaimed at the Capitol, the Courthouse,
and the Palace amidst the acclamations of the people,
accompanied by firing cannons and musketry, the several
regiments of continental troops having been paraded
on that solemnity." Here we have an eyewitness
report of the celebrations surrounding the publication
of the Declaration of Independence, a celebration that
has continued uninterrupted for over two hundred years.
Congress wrote the Declaration of Independence to
be read by as wide an audience as possible. To this
end, thirty newspapers in America printed it. The Library
of Congress owns fifteen original copies of these printings.
Reading the Declaration as it first appeared in newspapers
brings it to life as a living contemporary document
that directed the course of history in the United States
and throughout the world. The promises to life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness have yet to be achieved
in much of the world, yet without these promises, would
we have come as far as we have today? Keeping the Declaration
of Independence fresh and alive in our hearts and minds
will continue the spread of democracy. I hope that
my sharing my discovery of the importance of studying
the first printings of the Declaration of Independence
in newspapers will inspire you as much as it has inspired
me.
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