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

uilding new ideas on the foundation of past ideas. 83 The first printed edition of
Virginia laws had a simple index, although it was instead called a “table.” 84 When
first compiled and printed locally, the compilation of laws had a complex index that
included a catalog designed to help the reader use the subsequent “Table to the
Laws of Virginia,” which was the actual index. While a bit complex, this did allow
for use of the compilation without the need to be familiar with every single page or
law, a great improvement over earlier collections. With only a basic legal
knowledge, a person could now look up just what they needed to know. Prior to
indexing, one would be forced to read through all of the laws. The emphasis shifted
from oral communication, to written, and then to printed communication, seen
here in the shift from laws passed only by word of mouth, to laws written down,
and then to laws being printed. With this shift comes a change in the way that
people think about the laws. More people could be aware of the content of and
alterations to the laws. Thinking about them became more literal, more linear, and
more similar to what we consider logical today. With laws more accessible,
discussion about such legal issues could involve greater numbers of people. 85
Printing was brought to the colony to help the government distribute its
laws, to help the leaders maintain control over the population, and to enhance their
power. 86 Parks obviously had the support of the governors as well as the assembly. 87
83 Written words are literal, sequential, and logical. By comparison, oral thought is
simultaneous, immediate, and analogical. When ideas are written down, each new idea builds on
previous ideas using a systematic logic more linear than that of non-literate cultures.
Paul Grosswiler,” Jürgen Habermas: Media Ecologist?” ed. Donna Flayhan, Proceedings of the
Media Ecology Association, Volume 2, Second Annual Convention, NYU, June 2001, Media Ecology
Association, 25. History as we practice it is based on the linear, written word, making it
particularly difficult for historians to perceive the changes wrought by changes in media. See
McLuhan, Gutenberg Galaxy, 1-15.
84 Lawes of Virginia (London, 1662).
85 Eisenstein, Printing Revolution, 69-82. See also Ong, Orality and Literacy, for writing and
printing changing the logic of thought, and the new linearity of thinking.
86 Botein, “ ‘Meer Mechanics’ and an Open Press: the Business and Political Strategies of
Colonial American Printers,” in Perspectives in American History, Vol. IX. (Cambridge: Cambridge
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