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

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essays of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele had perhaps the most direct impact on
colonial print form, especially in the early decades of the eighteenth century. 34
Praise of Addison appeared in Virginia’s earliest printed pamphlets, and a Virginia
Gazette of 1737 lauded the pair’s writing. 35 Both a 1752 newspaper and a 1767
almanac from Virginia contain an “Ode to Liberty,” from Addison’s A Letter from
Italy. The printers of both the Virginia Gazette and the Maryland Gazette often
excerpted Addison and Steele’s The Spectator magazine in their newspapers and
almanacs. 36 Steele’s early innovations brought greater numbers of readers to the
public prints, including many from further down the social scale. He originated the
concept of letters to the editor, which made newspapers more participatory than
earlier ones that simply ran stories or items. The papers became a two-way medium
that allowed people to contribute rather than simply read what others had said and
encouraged active involvement in civic discourse. The increased citizen contribution
to newspapers and potential criticism of civic affairs were key developments in the
evolution of freedom of the press. With the use of pseudonyms, even readers of a
lower social position were now free to criticize the elites, eroding the traditional
culture of deference. 37 Addison and Steele’s focus was less on politics and more on
34 Louis T. Milic, “Tone in Steele’s Tatler,” in Bond and McLeod, Newsletters to Newspapers,
33-45.
35 J. Markland, Typographia. An Ode, on Printing. Inscrib’d to the Honourable William Gooch,
Esq. (Williamsburg: Parks, 1730.) See Chapter 2. Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg: Parks, June 3,
1737), 1, where a letter signed “Andromache” suggests that the skill of an earlier contributor
exceeds that of Addison and Steele, implying that their writing was highly esteemed.
36 Job Grant, Virginia Almanack … 1767 ... (Williamsburg: William Rind, 1767). This verse
was printed earlier in the Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg: Hunter, March 5, 1752), where it is
credited to Joseph Addison, “[A] Letter from Italy,” (1704). For example, Addison’s Cato is
quoted in the Virginia Gazette (Purdie, Jan. 8, 1767), 3. Performance of the play, Cato: A Tragedy,
is announced in the first Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg: Parks, Aug. 6, 1736), quoted in Virginia
Historical Register, 6:21-31.
37 Warner, Letters of the Republic, 42-48, notes that pseudonymous writing removes the
character of the writer from consideration, allowing evaluation of the work based on argument, not
on social position. This legitimized participation by middling classes.