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

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The first printing of an actual compilation of laws passed over multiple sessions took place in London in 1662, as requested by Governor Berkeley. Despite being reviewed and revised by the “Grand Assembly,” this printing of 138 legal acts did contain some errors, which confused the legal situation rather than set things out clearly. 78 An unauthorized reprint about 1683/4 was not only rejected, but was “su’pressed” and Captain John Purvis was accused of a “Misdemeanor in presumeing to publish withoue License a booke of yt title and contents to ye Greate Scandall and Contempt of ye Government ...” The governor and council agreed and ordered the censorship, but the need for a compilation of laws was apparently so great that it was used anyway. This book contained very useful blank pages for writing in later acts. 79 Another compilation of laws was apparently printed in London in 1727/8, but one of the first acts of new Virginia printer Parks, with the orders of the lower house, was to print an updated collection of the colony’s laws in 1733. With a printer now resident in the colony, laws were regularly printed and made available, distributed to the counties more regularly, and put on sale to the public in the printer’s office. The Journals of the House of Burgesses were printed following each session and were now more easily accessible. 80 78 Francis Moryson and Henry Randolph, eds., The Lawes of Virginia Now in Force: Collected out of Assembly Records, and Digested into one Volume ... (London: E. Cotes for A. Seile, 1662). 79 Journals of the House of Burgesses (Jamestown: April 26 and April 29, 1684), 47. Also see Hall, Cultures of Print, 110-112, and “Some Virginia Law Books in a Virginia Law Office,” The Virginia Law Register, new series, vol. 12, no. 2. (June 1926), 74-84. The word “yt” is an archaic version of the word “that.” 39
40 Printing the laws, Eisenstein suggested, helped to preserve them, helped to fix them, and helped to democratize them. Printed copies were distributed in greater numbers and lasted longer than did manuscripts. While errors did occur in printed collections, the errors were at least uniform, whereas in manuscripts, errors regularly crept in randomly, and no two copies were exactly alike. 81 Thomas Jefferson was well aware of the preservative properties of print. In researching the laws of Virginia, he discovered that many of the old laws had already been lost. His solution was not to store ancient manuscripts on locked shelves, but rather to spread printed copies of the historic records. He noted that printed copies of law not only helped to preserve the records; it also was democratizing to have multiple copies in distribution. As he wrote, “Has there ever been one [a law] lost since the art of printing has rendered it practicable to multiply & disperse copies?” 82 Perhaps of even greater significance was the influence of writing (versus oral communication) and later printing upon the way that people thought about the laws. Indexing became more common with printed works. That was important in that it organized and made information more accessible. In essence, it changed the logic of rational thought; helping people to think more linearly, allowing for 80 A Collection of All the Acts of Assembly, Now in Force, in the Colony of Virginia [1661-1732] ... (Williamsburg: Parks, 1733). Susan Stromei Berg, compiler, Eighteenth-Century Williamsburg Imprints (New York: Clearwater Publishing Company, 1986), 3-7. The Journals apparently were not regularly kept, until an order in 1679/80 by the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade and Foreign Plantations requiring the Clerk of the Assembly to keep such, make copies, and send one back to England. This was perhaps because in 1677, when Bacon’s Rebellion was being investigated, the clerk refused to send the journals. From Journals of the House of Burgesses, 2: xxi. 81 Eisenstein, Printing Revolution, 79-81. 82 Thomas Jefferson to George Wythe, January 16, 1796, The Thomas Jefferson Papers Series 1. General Correspondence. 1651-1827 The Works of Thomas Jefferson in Twelve Volumes. Federal Edition. Collected and Edited by Paul Leicester Ford. Accessed online at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mtj:@field(DOCID+@lit(tj080097)), quoted in Eisenstein, Printing Revolution, 79-81.
Page 4: Dedication To my late father, Curti
Page 7 and 8: Chapter 7 Reactions in the Chesapea
Page 10 and 11: Foreword by David Waldstreicher Rog
Page 12: Acknowledgements This work could no
Page 15 and 16: 2 typical of Colonial Virginians of
Page 17 and 18: 4 political leaders, even the King,
Page 19 and 20: 6 related, the relationship of prin
Page 21 and 22: 8 the press, a declared freedom tha
Page 23 and 24: 10 colony, and demonstrates how pri
Page 25 and 26: 12 print and popular use of the pri
Page 27 and 28: 14 expand, grow in importance, and
Page 29 and 30: 16 in overcrowded conditions. Once
Page 31 and 32: 18 in England that the colony had a
Page 33 and 34: 20 sheets of those printed laws, Go
Page 35 and 36: 22 to control dissent by the opposi
Page 37 and 38: 24 was about 144,000 people, with a
Page 39 and 40: 26 of the “simple folk.” 37 Thi
Page 41 and 42: 28 and aristocracy, as they came mo
Page 43 and 44: 30 journals made public. This appea
Page 45 and 46: 32 A printing house was a major inv
Page 47 and 48: 34 after the mid-eighteenth century
Page 49 and 50: 36 percent and women’s about 30 p
Page 51: 38 Whatever the original intent, pr
Page 55 and 56: 42 Governor William Gooch was the a
Page 57 and 58: 44 monopoly of power. 91 An increas
Page 59 and 60: 46 Resolved, That it is the undoubt
Page 61 and 62: 48 alienating anyone in power. 103
Page 63 and 64: 50 approved by the Governor’s Cou
Page 65 and 66: 52 that of a press that should cont
Page 67 and 68: 54 ideas about the role of print wi
Page 69 and 70: 56 and popular prints, more driven
Page 71 and 72: 58 tells much about both the way th
Page 73 and 74: 60 The earliest Chesapeake printers
Page 75 and 76: 62 Printer William Parks noted that
Page 77 and 78: 64 to found The Spectator with Jose
Page 79 and 80: 66 public discourse. This appears t
Page 81 and 82: 68 arrived in the Chesapeake via Lo
Page 83 and 84: 70 Postal service was an extremely
Page 85 and 86: 72 “Enter’d in the Upper Distri
Page 87 and 88: 74 using an additional six pages of
Page 89 and 90: 76 and relatives) made up the major
Page 91 and 92: 78 more than two full pages of adve
Page 93 and 94: 80 eventually gained in power, and
Page 95 and 96: 82 issues. 63 The institution of th
Page 97 and 98: 84 Hunter “be the Moderator of ou
Page 99 and 100: 86 allow for a free exchange of a s
Page 101 and 102: 88 improved communication, but news
Page 103 and 104:
90 The limits of public debate in V
Page 105 and 106:
92 criticism of the British governm
Page 107 and 108:
94 Gentlemen. It was my unhappiness
Page 109 and 110:
96 the power structure. From a pres
Page 111 and 112:
98 from the multidisciplinary field
Page 113 and 114:
100 Indian medicine. By the mid-eig
Page 115 and 116:
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
Page 167 and 168:
154 equality, “One Sex was not de
Page 169 and 170:
156 women’s involvement in the ph
Page 171 and 172:
158 to the 1730s, to the very origi
Page 173 and 174:
160
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
Page 207 and 208:
194
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
Page 219 and 220:
206 Historians have generally agree
Page 221 and 222:
208 1935 article, where he wrote,
Page 223 and 224:
210 Rind, with only minor discrepan
Page 225 and 226:
212 Street that belonged to Philip
Page 227 and 228:
214 has ever been Established in th
Page 229 and 230:
216 authority. 54 The newspaper in
Page 231 and 232:
218 Judges of the General Court, ou
Page 233 and 234:
220 was now political material with
Page 235 and 236:
222 Going beyond questions of memor
Page 237 and 238:
224 of deference was giving way to
Page 239 and 240:
226 the United States’ Bill of Ri
Page 241 and 242:
228 intended to “wipe out the com
Page 243 and 244:
230 interpretation as being too nar
Page 245 and 246:
232 business advantages that the fr
Page 247 and 248:
234 the Virginia House of Burgesses
Page 249 and 250:
236 “great bulwark of our Constit
Page 251 and 252:
238 cultural customs and behavior.
Page 253 and 254:
240 contending writers that pay the
Page 255 and 256:
242 new burgess was not mentioned,
Page 257 and 258:
244 that seditious libel was becomi
Page 259 and 260:
246 restricting freedom of the pres
Page 261 and 262:
248 attacks on Wilkes’ newspaper.
Page 263 and 264:
250 colonial legislature in 1770, h
Page 265 and 266:
252 part of our government can main
Page 267 and 268:
254 George Mason and Rights Declare
Page 269 and 270:
256 both Richard Henry Lee’s and
Page 271 and 272:
258 paragraphs of Mason’s Declara
Page 273 and 274:
260 There is no conclusive document
Page 275 and 276:
262 Henry had arranged with printer
Page 277 and 278:
264 ministry. 112 “A free press w
Page 279 and 280:
266 Connecticut replied, “It is u
Page 281 and 282:
268 heavy duties on the printing of
Page 283 and 284:
270 means merely the absence of pri
Page 285 and 286:
272 people peaceably to assemble an
Page 287 and 288:
274 amendments, he informed the gov
Page 289 and 290:
276 Despite the evidence underminin
Page 291 and 292:
278 simply being a restriction on p
Page 293 and 294:
280 himself—through the aid of pr
Page 295 and 296:
282 While Habermas theorized about
Page 297 and 298:
284 new contextualizing of the orig
Page 299 and 300:
286 Americans instead of British. 1
Page 301 and 302:
288
Page 303 and 304:
290
Page 305 and 306:
292 Congress, Great Britain PRO CO
Page 307 and 308:
294 Charlottesville: published for
Page 309 and 310:
296 Hoffman, Paul P., ed. Guide to
Page 311 and 312:
298 Morton, Richard L. Colonial Vir
Page 313 and 314:
300 Barker, Hannah and Simon Burrow
Page 315 and 316:
302 Kraus, Sidney and Dennis Davis.
Page 317 and 318:
304 Articles: Anderson, David. “T
Page 319 and 320:
306 Smith, Stephen A. “The Origin
Page 321 and 322:
308
Page 323 and 324:
310 Bill of Rights, 4, 7, 11, 226,
Page 325 and 326:
312 Dulany, Daniel, 180 Dunmore, Go
Page 327 and 328:
314 King Charles, 21 King George I,
Page 329 and 330:
316 North Briton, The, 223, 247, 24
Page 331 and 332:
318 Rawson, David, 23, 36, 125, 155
Page 333:
320 Virginia Resolves, 169 Virginia
show all

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

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?