The Origins of a Free Press in Prerevolutionary ... - Web Publishing

elationship to political deference, and the changes in colonial Virginia as deference
wanes is explored in the pages ahead.
Political dissent became obvious first in the pages of the newspaper printed
in Annapolis, before it could be seen in the pages printed in Williamsburg. The
nearby colony of Maryland offers a useful comparison in examining the rise of
printing, the increase in dissenting discourse, and the emergence of press freedom.
The two colonies not only shared printed materials and printers, they also shared the
tobacco-based economy. Although settled long before the middle colonies, these
southern colonies were slower to develop a press that freely criticized the
government and contained dissenting opinions. With an agrarian economy and no
major metropolitan areas, print competition came to the Chesapeake colonies at a
later date than it came to the northern colonies. 13 That transition and the culture,
society, and evolution of printing in Maryland are necessarily part of this study.
While printing dates back to 1639 in Massachusetts, forty-three years later the
royal governor of Virginia refused to allow a printing press to operate. The
proprietary colony of Maryland was more welcoming. 14 When printing did finally
come to Williamsburg, those who did not agree with the government often found
themselves turning to Annapolis to get printed what could not be published at
home. The relationship between these two presses is explored in the pages ahead,
and the political biases within the prints will offer a useful perspective on
government control and restrictions on local publishing. On the printed pages from
both presses, a dissident civic discourse is seen developing, with crucial implications
for the development of free press concepts. The finding here is that while closely
13 David A. Copeland, The Idea of a Free Press: the Enlightenment and its Unruly Legacy
(Evanston, IL: Northwestern Univ. Press, 2006), 108-9.
14 nd
Isaiah Thomas, The History of Printing in America, With a Biography of Printers. 2 vols. 2
ed. (Albany: Munsell, 1874; reprint, New York: B. Franklin, 1967), 5, 550-552. Lawrence Wroth,
The Colonial Printer. 2nd ed. (Portland, ME: Southworth-Anthoensen Press, 1938; reprint, New
York: Dover Publications, 1994), 14, 16-17, and 38.
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