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155 of the civic public. In comparing colonial Virginia with Habermas’ pre-modern Western Europe, we can view the royal governor and his counselors (the gentry) as the colonial equivalent of the King and court, without any truly public discourse at all in the early years of the colony. A wider range of influential people (including a newly rising middling sort of lawyers, tradesmen, and smaller farmers) eventually undermined the elite’s political authority. The new group used the newly available print discourse to establish their social authority. Out of this burgeoning print culture emerged the first actual civic public in Virginia. Its emergence and character diverge somewhat from the bourgeois transformation Habermas described in Western Europe. 73 His theory of a civic public assumed—without presenting any solid evidence—that women and the more plebian members of society were not involved. The findings here suggest that in Virginia some women were indeed involved. 74 Published accounts of politics within an emerging print culture are viewed as a crucial precondition of any such civic public. To take part in Habermas’ public discourse, however, required taking part not only in printed debates but also in oral discussions in taverns, coffeehouses, and other public spaces, activities that typically excluded women. 75 Women did form active political groups that could be considered a female civic public, debating and taking action over non-consumption and non-importation in the years leading to the Revolution. While no evidence of 73 Rawson, “ ‘Guardians of their Own Liberty’,” 79, fn 17, suggested that in colonial Virginia, rather than a public sphere, there was a tight elite he described as a closed socioeconomic oligarchy that thought of itself as “the public.” He wrote that new economic, political, and cultural elites used print to establish a new authority and Virginia’s first real public sphere. This research suggests that instead of a pseudo-public, the original elite structure relates more to a pre-modern monarchy, and a totally private discourse. We agree that out of the new print culture emerges a public discourse, which he describes as a “sphere.” 74 Craig Calhoun, ed., Habermas and the Public Sphere, (Cambridge: MIT, 1992). This supports the conclusions of Kierner, Beyond the Household, xi, and 213. 75 Sharon Salinger, in Taverns and Drinking in Early America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002), noted that women, especially the lower sort, took part in drinking and tavern discussions, but Salinger also suggested that gender and class differences were actually accentuated, not broken down, by tavern custom.
156 women’s involvement in the physical spaces where men’s public discussions took place has been noted, women did take part in the public world of print, as both readers and contributors. The public should be viewed not simply as functioning in totally separate spaces, but rather in more complex multi-dimensional groupings, or utilizing intersecting lines of communication. These communication networks are made up of both physical discussion groups and other nonsynchronous interconnections of people through media such as newspapers. The groups touch and overlap at certain points, but are completely separate at others. Some groups are completely within private realms, some are completely public, while others touch upon both. Within this image, women are represented taking part in debates that touch upon public matters, but women are also sometimes not completely involved in public, political matters. Some women are shown to be involved to some extent in public affairs, while also having private, domestic lines of activity. 76 This involvement of women in the public prints and the public political sphere led to a few outright requests for political equality by the Revolutionary War, and some consideration by one of Virginia’s political elite. While Massachusetts’ John Adams may have quickly rejected his wife’s request to “Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them” in the young nation’s “new Code of Laws,” 77 at least one political leader did not so casually reject women’s involvement outright. Richard Henry Lee of Virginia suggested that he would support giving the vote to widows and unmarried women who owned property. He wrote this comment to his sister, in response to her complaint that 76 Replacing the traditional spheres with the spatial metaphor was suggested by commentator David Waldstreicher at the conference, The Atlantic World in the Age of Print in the Age of Franklin (Philadelphia, Friday, September 29, 2006) where an earlier version of this chapter was presented. Combining that idea with the criticism of the idea of a sphere by Grosswiler, “Jürgen Habermas: Media Ecologist?,” 22-31, leaves the idea as a generic space, or intersecting straight lines or strings. 77 Abigail Adams to John Adams, March 31 to April 5, 1776 [electronic edition]. Adams Family Papers: An Electronic Archive. Massachusetts Historical Society. http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/
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Dedication To my late father, Curti
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Chapter 7 Reactions in the Chesapea
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Foreword by David Waldstreicher Rog
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Acknowledgements This work could no
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2 typical of Colonial Virginians of
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4 political leaders, even the King,
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6 related, the relationship of prin
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8 the press, a declared freedom tha
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10 colony, and demonstrates how pri
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12 print and popular use of the pri
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14 expand, grow in importance, and
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16 in overcrowded conditions. Once
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18 in England that the colony had a
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20 sheets of those printed laws, Go
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22 to control dissent by the opposi
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24 was about 144,000 people, with a
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26 of the “simple folk.” 37 Thi
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28 and aristocracy, as they came mo
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30 journals made public. This appea
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32 A printing house was a major inv
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34 after the mid-eighteenth century
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36 percent and women’s about 30 p
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38 Whatever the original intent, pr
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40 Printing the laws, Eisenstein su
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42 Governor William Gooch was the a
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44 monopoly of power. 91 An increas
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46 Resolved, That it is the undoubt
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48 alienating anyone in power. 103
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50 approved by the Governor’s Cou
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52 that of a press that should cont
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54 ideas about the role of print wi
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56 and popular prints, more driven
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58 tells much about both the way th
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60 The earliest Chesapeake printers
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62 Printer William Parks noted that
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64 to found The Spectator with Jose
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66 public discourse. This appears t
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68 arrived in the Chesapeake via Lo
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70 Postal service was an extremely
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72 “Enter’d in the Upper Distri
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74 using an additional six pages of
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76 and relatives) made up the major
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78 more than two full pages of adve
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80 eventually gained in power, and
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82 issues. 63 The institution of th
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84 Hunter “be the Moderator of ou
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86 allow for a free exchange of a s
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88 improved communication, but news
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90 The limits of public debate in V
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92 criticism of the British governm
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94 Gentlemen. It was my unhappiness
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96 the power structure. From a pres
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98 from the multidisciplinary field
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100 Indian medicine. By the mid-eig
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102 probably because they were used
Page 117 and 118: 104 While designed to be useful and
Page 119 and 120: 106 One Maryland almanac had advice
Page 121 and 122: 108 about political pamphlets and n
Page 123 and 124: 110 the United States, but did not
Page 125 and 126: 112 crisis, just as the tax on pape
Page 127 and 128: 114 small amounts in the Virginia a
Page 129 and 130: 116 opinion leaders. Such influenti
Page 131 and 132: 118 permits separation of verbal th
Page 133 and 134: 120 and alienation, it can also int
Page 135 and 136: 122 dependent on the very culture i
Page 137 and 138: 124 the knowledge they incorporated
Page 139 and 140: 126 When printed material became a
Page 141 and 142: 128 with interleaved pages. He reco
Page 143 and 144: 130 This section included entertain
Page 145 and 146: 132 it had real economic and social
Page 147 and 148: 134 discourse, and even the public
Page 149 and 150: 136 print remain under-explored. 9
Page 151 and 152: 138 A fairly large number of Virgin
Page 153 and 154: 140 as enabling discourse by non-el
Page 155 and 156: 142 sold in Williamsburg in 1756. 2
Page 157 and 158: 144 Complaint” begins by pointing
Page 159 and 160: 146 a woman requesting a response f
Page 161 and 162: 148 Pen.)” 49 This writer may hav
Page 163 and 164: 150 Women’s involvement with prin
Page 165 and 166: 152 mass media available. Communica
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Page 171 and 172: 158 to the 1730s, to the very origi
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Page 175 and 176: 162 ensued. In the summer of 1764,
Page 177 and 178: 164 among the printers and between
Page 179 and 180: 166 than two shillings. The tax on
Page 181 and 182: 168 which openly invaded the first
Page 183 and 184: 170 Extracts of Letters, &c. respec
Page 185 and 186: 172 assembly what action he should
Page 187 and 188: 174 Williamsburg paper did not ment
Page 189 and 190: 176 successors to print laws and th
Page 191 and 192: 178 While Royle did still receive
Page 193 and 194: 180 Sentiments of their own Rights
Page 195 and 196: 182 estimates that by this period,
Page 197 and 198: 184 in Charles-Town, South Carolina
Page 199 and 200: 186 in the colonies has been theori
Page 201 and 202: 188 many as four or five coffeehous
Page 203 and 204: 190 Jürgen Habermas viewed such ci
Page 205 and 206: 192 with the religious Great Awaken
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Page 209 and 210: 196 specifically from the former pr
Page 211 and 212: 198 and Richard D. Brown noted, kno
Page 213 and 214: 200 little afford to offend powerfu
Page 215 and 216: 202 period and was more boring afte
Page 217 and 218: 204 This author claimed that Royle
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206 Historians have generally agree
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208 1935 article, where he wrote,
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210 Rind, with only minor discrepan
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212 Street that belonged to Philip
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214 has ever been Established in th
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216 authority. 54 The newspaper in
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218 Judges of the General Court, ou
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220 was now political material with
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222 Going beyond questions of memor
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224 of deference was giving way to
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226 the United States’ Bill of Ri
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228 intended to “wipe out the com
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230 interpretation as being too nar
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232 business advantages that the fr
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234 the Virginia House of Burgesses
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236 “great bulwark of our Constit
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238 cultural customs and behavior.
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240 contending writers that pay the
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242 new burgess was not mentioned,
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244 that seditious libel was becomi
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246 restricting freedom of the pres
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248 attacks on Wilkes’ newspaper.
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250 colonial legislature in 1770, h
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252 part of our government can main
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254 George Mason and Rights Declare
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256 both Richard Henry Lee’s and
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258 paragraphs of Mason’s Declara
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260 There is no conclusive document
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262 Henry had arranged with printer
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264 ministry. 112 “A free press w
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266 Connecticut replied, “It is u
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268 heavy duties on the printing of
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270 means merely the absence of pri
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272 people peaceably to assemble an
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274 amendments, he informed the gov
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276 Despite the evidence underminin
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278 simply being a restriction on p
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280 himself—through the aid of pr
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282 While Habermas theorized about
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284 new contextualizing of the orig
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286 Americans instead of British. 1
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288
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290
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292 Congress, Great Britain PRO CO
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294 Charlottesville: published for
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296 Hoffman, Paul P., ed. Guide to
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298 Morton, Richard L. Colonial Vir
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300 Barker, Hannah and Simon Burrow
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302 Kraus, Sidney and Dennis Davis.
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304 Articles: Anderson, David. “T
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306 Smith, Stephen A. “The Origin
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308
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310 Bill of Rights, 4, 7, 11, 226,
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312 Dulany, Daniel, 180 Dunmore, Go
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314 King Charles, 21 King George I,
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316 North Briton, The, 223, 247, 24
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318 Rawson, David, 23, 36, 125, 155
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320 Virginia Resolves, 169 Virginia
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