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

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While Habermas theorized about European bourgeoisie, discourse in Virginia
spread to middling sorts, and even women and groups not previously considered
part of a civic public. In the Chesapeake colonies, women were involved in civic
discourse, especially within the prints themselves. Habermas theorized a
degeneration of his civic public as lower classes became involved, yet in the Virginia
colony, we see it strengthening as it expanded. 8 Michael Warner adapted
Habermas’ theories to the American colonies, and the research reported here
reinforces Warner’s premise that a great deal of discourse actually took place on the
printed page. 9 This study finds that the growing market economy aided the
increased discourse through the public prints, rather than being a disintegrating
influence at that time.
Along with increased civic discourse and political dissent came an
understanding of the value of a press that was able to spread more diverse ideas
through print media. People wanted and expected a publishing outlet for dissenting
ideas, and the concept of liberty of the press broadened to include criticism of the
government. While initially press freedom may have meant simply freedom to
publish without a license—a lack of prior restraint—that was no longer sufficient.
There was now dissatisfaction with even indirect government influence over a single
press. Prosecution after the fact for seditious libel was, by the 1760s, disparaged in
the public prints and rarely if ever enforced in the courts. By then it was considered
an impediment to a truly free press. From this increased discourse and the
recognized need for a voice freed from the gatekeeping of the royal governor
emerged the idea of constitutional protection for press freedom. Print
competition—free from government control—was needed to counterbalance a
potentially corrupt and powerful government, whether British or American. From
8 Habermas, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere.
9 Warner, Letters of the Republic, 48 and 59-61