In Chapter Five of his book
The Idea of a Free Press, David Copeland writes about the rise of printing and print culture in the American colonies. The first printing press arrived in North America in 1638, he notes, and over time, the printed word became vital to the lives of the colonists. But the rise of print culture in America was not quick nor easy. As Copeland points out, there were many obstacles to the spread of printing in the colonies and it took some years before books, pamphlets, broadsides, newsletters, and newspapers became widespread in the colonies.
Questions: Why did printing and print culture take so long to become established in the colonies? What general and specific obstacles hindered the rise of printing? For this posting, identify and discuss at least two obstacles to print culture in America, including one obstacle that is different from the English experience.
As always, be specific. Cite particular passages (with page numbers) from the text. Also, don't forget to sign your name in your post.
11 comments:
The American colonies were not very densely populated at first and in order for printing to become profitable it needed a large, centralized audience (108). As printing was government controlled it was difficult for printers to publish freely. They depended on the government for their income and thus refrained from printing anything critical of the government. In 1649 the General Court of the Colony requested a licensing system. Not only did everything need government approval but in addition the Puritans were opposed to any publications not co-inciting with their religious beliefs. People immigrating to the colonies were forced to swear loyalty oaths (117) not only to the colonies’ government but also to the Anglican Church. The Puritans strongly denounced religious toleration (106) which posed a major obstacle to the idea of free expression through print.
S.Johnson
Although printing played an integral part in encouraging people to make the transatlantic journey to America, it took time for printing to become established in America (104). Similar to Britain, the rise of printing was limited by the government. The limited numbers of printers in America were brought to the colonies to serve the government, “to produce official documents, money, and legislative proceedings” (108). Therefore the sole purpose of the press was to serve “political, religious, and economic functions” in favor of colonial governmental bodies -- much like British printers were supposed to only print material that supported the monarch (107). The governmental control in the colonies limited free print and therefore free speech. On the other hand, print was limited in America due to the physical limited number of printers and print houses. That is, “the small number of print houses made it easy for colonial government to control what was printed” (108). Also “there were only five presses operating in America by the end of the seventeenth century” (120). Therefore printing in America was more difficult due to the limited number of print presses.
Elizabeth Kubik
I have to agree with Stephanie (I'm sorry I'm not sure how you spell your first name) and say that the largest impediment to a free press specific to the American experience was the distribution of population. Considering the economic role of the press, a large, easily reachable audience is absolutely necessary for any reasonable chance at making money. In the early years, this simply was not the case. Copeland specifically provides the example of Benjamin Harris' "Publick Occurences," which could not be published more than monthly, even in the "large" metropolitan area of Boston, because the lack of a large, centralized audience made it financially impossible.
The other reason that the printing press took so long to develop is because the new American colonies were unable to leave behind the idea of government censorship of printing in England. Even when the colonies were required by law to obtain a printing press, the same law made provisions for the royal governors to have full control over everything printed (123). Thus, although printing would, in theory, at least have a presence in each colony, the content of the publication would be subject to the approval of the colonial legislature. This served as a second impediment to the development of the printing press.
Soren Jordan
One very general hindrance to freedom of the press was the narrow mindset that freedom should only be granted to those who propagated a specific truth. The Puritans, for example, were advocates of free speech inasmuch as it complemented their religious views (106). Many people who called for a free press were not interested in hearing dissenters’ opinions.
In the colonies that would become the United States, printing was a relatively small business. In the early 18th century there were only five printing presses throughout the colonies, and these were closely monitored by the government, which provided most of the presses’ business and therefore could control what was printed (107). With such a small number of presses it was easy for the government to focus on censorship. There were also various regulations throughout the colonies; what was printed in Massachusetts might earn a printer jail time in New York (125). With the press so closely monitored, many colonists turned to word of mouth to disseminate important news, rather than fight the establishment (135). So freedom of the press was slow to be standardized and enforced in the colonies.
M Kadin
One of the biggest obstacles that was preventing printing from becoming widespread in the American colonies was the lack of available printing presses. Even by the end of the 17th century, there were only five printing presses in the Colonies; of which 3 resided in Massachusetts (108). There was no such shortage in England, however. In fact, the printing presses that were in the Colonies were shipped in from England. Because of the small number of printing presses, the colonial governments found it to be relatively easy to regulate anything that was printed.
There were also laws in place in Colonial America with the exclusive purpose of limiting printing (120). Among these were loyalty oaths administered in England before passage to the Colonies (117), licensing acts (123), and fines (especially on Quaker literature; 124).
-BZ...(This is why I am happy that our forefathers provided us with freedom of press: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steadman_Upham)
I would say that one of the obstacles in the colonies was the fact that those who came over had little money to start their own printing companies, therefore "printers [were] dependent upon their local governments for business to maintain their livelihoods, [so] they rarely printed anything that intentionally challenged local authority" (108). Because of this the spread of printing was easier for the government to control and slow down. Also, there was never alot of printing competition or market of ideas at first up until the seventeeth century, because unlike England, there were only five printing presses operating in the colonies (120). The more printing presses in operation, the harder it is for the government to control the printing press, because the material is coming from several different places and sources.
-Courtney Chadney-
When we think of the history of printing in America today, we are most likely to place the starting point with Ben Franklin and some of the other great American printers of the 18th century. In fact, as early as fifty years after its invention, the printed word had become an integral part of Western culture. The printing press was marketing a small amount of people; hardly anybody could read period and newspapers cost a lot back then. In the beginning of the printing press a few reasons why it was difficult for it to become a success were because for starters the availability was limited, there were only so many places that had working printing presses and those areas could not distribute their product to the people. Religious had a big roll also Copeland mentioned, Works printed on the press of America could face more scrutiny than imported writings, but there was little concern that America’s initial printing would produce goals seditious or heretical material as long as they related to the goals of the colonies. Another reason is because the people were not able to afford either the education needed to read the papers, or could not afford it purchase it, therefore there were only a few people who consistently bought it, and even those people thought it as an luxury item more than a necessity. In current times the problems for the printing press are still present but in different ways. Television and Internet have made much easier ways to access the information at a faster rate and it is easier and cheaper to go about getting information this way. American people are in too much of a hurry and too lazy to sit down and read the newspaper or a book when they can simply go to the store and
Donald Gobert
Again, we see heavy governmental control throughout the new colonies that suppressed printing. When the population of the new colonies started to increase, the "colonial leaders believed they needed a means of printing official government documents" (107) which introduced a printing press within the new colonies. There was such a heavy delay in waiting to get such documents printed because it had to be sent back to England and took up to fifteen weeks. The lack of resources to print ideas made it hard for people within the new colonies to express their ideas along with censoring laws that made it illegal to produce such material. Also, the fact that by this time there was only five printing presses in the new colonies was a major constriction in printing material and was controlled by the government of the colonies. Later on, sermons came around that provided current events and can be seen as sort of a breakthrough in media coverage. David Norm saw sermons as a "journalistic tool" (128) since it was the beginning of a means to spread news. “Ultimately, the attempt to protect government from any form of harm limited free speech in America” (135).
James Reed
the reason that i believe it did take so long for the colonies to start printing was maily cause it did cost money to supply the printers with money as well as ink and to add to that the printers would probably print off more papers than there were people as well as the population of the american colonies were spread out and in some remote places. one of the things that hindered the printing was actually a combination of two things in that those in power hated being talked about badly so typically they hated having their names run through the mud so they censored whaat was said about them, also the religious beliefs were seen as being untouchable and that it should be left alone and the priests were right and you were wrong so you had to do what they said.
Jon Bell
Although there did exist around 5 printing presses in early 17th century colonial America, the "protection of religious order"(118) was seen as the most important task that could only be accomplished with little to no freedom of the press. Coincidentally, one of the most important early uses of the printing press was to distribute religious material to outsiders like Native Americans, as John Eliot did. The main reason for the growth of the printed word in the latter half of the century was that population growth required the creation of official documents, etc... that did not have to be printed in the mother country, although it remained under licensing laws for a significant period of time (around 1680). Quakers, who had long been considered controversial, were some of the first in the 1660's to demand freedom of speech through the press, which by 1690 forced the courts to acknowledge to an extent the separation of church and state (126). This was certainly a groundbreaking decision that said a lot about the changing nature of the society, which was moving towards removing religion as an inhibitor to free expression and press. Although newspapers failed to take hold by the 1690's in colonial America, people were able to share information orally as well as through letters, which were the first thing to catch on with popularity in America. It is certainly true that colonists of the 17th century "analyzed the information they received through a religious lens" which led to many hold ups in freedom of the press, which would eventually start to emerge as people began to accept the need for separate spheres of the government and the church.
Patrick K.
Copeland emphasizes religion as one of the most significant problems that faced the initial spread of the print medium in the American colonies. He notes on page 22 that Oliver Cromwell's puritan parliament in England shut down printing as much as possible. A strong disapproval of anything progressive or modern was characteristic of the puritan rule in England and after it died out, the puritan pilgrimage to the colonies brought that attitude to early America. The laws against printing remained stringent until the colonies began to grow and new ideologies formed amongst the colonists. Quakerism became increasingly popular in certain areas of colonial America. Quakerism, a very progressive denomination of Christianity, championed the cause of freedom of the press. The more religious ideology was challenged increasingly in colonial America, the more progress was made in the effort to promote the spread of printed materials and rights of free speech for those who printed them.
Ashton Elder
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