The final two chapters of David Copeland's book, The Idea of a Free Press, review the development and growth of printing and newspapers in colonial America. In chapter seven Copeland writes about the many uses of the printed word in the colonies, one of which was public debate. Based on your reading of this chapter, identify and discuss a significant, specific role that the press played in the development of free expression. In other words, what role did the printed word play in establishing the American system of free expression?
For this assignment, write about 200 words (about 13 or 14 sentences). Remember, specifics are better than generalities, so cite specific details from chapters seven and eight as you make your argument.
This assignment is due by midnight Sunday, October 7. Also, remember to sign your name to the post.
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6 comments:
Zak Patterson
The printed word played a critical role in the development of free expression in America. "Americans from the 1720s on used the printed word for a multitude of purposes, an one of them was to engage in debate. Public officials repeatedly tried to silence any words they believed were a threat, but their efforts failed because the people, increasingly, became a part of the process" (184). Both Americans and Brits made an attempt for a long time but once newspapers started ignoring government sanctions regarding publishing certain kinds of debate-inducing material, free expression got some legs. An ideal deomcratic society thrives on free expression, and public debate only furthers that cause. For the longest time, the government exerted all the control it possibly could in order to avoid free debate, but now America had seen the power of the printed word and the benefits of free expression. Printed word allowed for people to publish their thoughts and idea and then allowed for the sort of democratic dialogue that went hand in hand with free expression. "A cleverly turned phrase in a well-constructed letter could set a community to talking" (185). I also thought it was clever how Sam Adams adopted pseudonymns in the articles he wrote, so as to avoid any kind of punishment, similar to "Cato's letters."
Barrett Hunter
I was interested in the fact that the printed word was the main way the colonials spread the revolutionary movement in the 18th century. He quotes a printer from 1754 expressing his views on America’s freedom from British tyranny, “It was by means of newspapers that we received and spread the notice.” The printed word and more specifically newspapers would help to unify a notion and provide the motivation to take action against England. The growing freedom of press and speech was evident in 1760s when the press was “almost void of any type of censure.” Now that people were being informed of public affairs and news they were beginning to display an essential factor in the communication process which was feedback. The printed word evoked debate and contradictory opinions between people. This was creating the idea of a public sphere. Important information that greatly affected the colony was no longer only made available to the bureaucrats and people in the upper class. Newspapers were available to anyone and everyone. Copeland says newspapers are “cheap, readily available, and easily shared” making them “the general source of conversation and debate in America.” Copeland even notes that because of people’s growing acknowledgement of the great power of the printed word, they would even cut down on advertisements just to make sure that the colonists were informed on the details of the war.
Kristina Merkle
Print in general played a big role in the development of free expression in America. There are so many memorable moments in history where print made a difference to so many people. One particular moment in the chapter that I noticed was mentioned on page 191. It talks about how Benjamin Franklin had created a cartoon that was "the greatest image of unity of the early American era" (pg 191). The cartoon showed a picture of a disjointed snake and this cartoon was to display this distaste for the taxes the the British had established. The reason why this is a significant moment is because many printers after that continued to use it. In 1754, they started to create their own cartoons which still informed people about what was going on with the war and all the taxes and any other events that may have occurred. This eventually led to Benjamin Franklin and another man named William Hunter were able to authorize postage free newspapers This also resulted in a more cost-effective mean of exchanging war information.
Andrus Rodriguez
The networking of communication during the time of crisis and how the papers used public debate to set the mood to separate from the “Mother Land” of England. This is what was so significant in how the press communicated through the use of the “Public Sphere” as a vehicle during a time of crisis. And it served to inform those that “came to realize that what happened in one colony hundreds of miles away could have repercussions for [all of] them” (210).
The demand for news of what was happening during the French and Indian war not only strengthens the networking connections among the different colonies, but it also carried within the floods the news about the “Albany Plan of Union.” This sparked an interest to many people because they feared that an agreement would cause a loss of power. In support, the printers played a big role in order to ease the tension and offer another topic to debate that they “may cease impolitically and ungenerously to consider themselves as distinct States” (193 - 194). This type of publicity also allowed for the need to inform the people of the double taxation in efforts to repay the debt back during the French and Indian war. “People turned to the printed page to complain” and most believed that “they were paying for the war twice” (201), which also ignited “the idea that perhaps the colonies should be free and independent from Britain” (211). They aggressively took their approach in writings that would further justify the reason to separate. The press is forever given the duty to not only make sure that the people are aware but to those that govern them as well “that the only way truly to be free was to silence those who would destroy the libertarian dream” (211).
Maggie Tracy
One aspect of the printed word that I found interesting was about printers and their support of the war effort during the French and Indian war. Copeland mentions that printers were producing ads in their papers about funding from the government and forming a proper defense of the colony and when they didn’t receive any and a colony was massacred, printers such as Ben Franklin and David Hall ignored what they were told because they felt the people had the right to know (197). Copeland finishes out the paragraph saying, “No further constraints were placed on war printing” (197). It is really interesting to me that the paper and its printers realized something needed to be done about colonial protection and when the government failed to fulfill that and asked for it to be covered up, the printers ignored them and the end result was no more constraints. To me, this seems like the published works of the printers actually did a lot of good for war publications and sort of showed up the government and legislative decisions. Copeland proceeds to tell us that “The overall collective consciousness that the press had helped to create during the war had changed the way news was presented and the way that colonists viewed their own welfare” (199) which, to me, seems like the ultimate goal of freedom of expression in America.
Michael Thomas
Because of the explosions of printed news during the French and Indian war, many of the nineteen papers not only allowed freedom of speech within their papers, but encouraged it if it was at least somewhat relevant to the French and Indian War (193). This came about because the need for news became just that, a necessity. In order to unite against any foreign power, the colonies needed to spread any word they could about the war. And during the war, the paper served two very important roles, first it established a sort of freedom to print without a license in that if there was a press, then it served a better purpose being used than being restrained. But the role that seems most interesting to me was the fact that the general thought was that any news was important and, therefore, was not restricted in the sense that anyone who felt that they had important or even somewhat relevant information about the ongoing war was more than free to propose and share their opinion (193).
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