the independent chronicle - printing museum

The Burr and Hamilton duel, 11 July, 1804, at Weehawken, N.J.. Detail from an engraving in the George Grantham Bain Collection. Courtesy of the Library of Conress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.

The Independent Chronicle

Thursday, September 6, 1804

Boston, Massachusetts

Abijah Adams (c. 1754–1816)

and Ebenezer Rhoades (c. 1775–1818), publishers

On July 11, 1804, Aaron Burr (1756–1836) fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) in a duel following years of political and personal enmity between the two. Hamilton was a leading figure in the Federalist party and had recently used his political influence to thwart Burr’s bid for governor of New York. He condemned Burr as “a man of irregular and insatiable ambition...who ought not be trusted with the reins of government.” Through an exchange of written letters, Burr challenged Hamilton to what would be the most famous duel in American history. The deadly outcome became national news.

The drama of political conflicts between Federalists and Republicans played out in partisan papers across the country. To the politically astute reader of the time, the Chronicle indicates its Republican leaning immediately. The quotation from Thomas Jefferson’s first inaugural address in the masthead announces the Republican perspective that will dominate the content that follows. The paper’s reprint of a lengthy reflection on Hamilton’s death from another Republican paper, the Pittsfield Sun, is notably harsh.

Gift of Donald and Nancy Piercy1999.006.01

Pennsylvania Gazette

June 6, 1765

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Benjamin Franklin and Hugh Meredith, publishers

Benjamin Franklin (American, 1706–1790), printer

The Pennsylvania Gazette shows both the conventions of colonial news-papers and the innovations of Benjamin Franklin. Like other newspapers, the Gazette gave priority to delivering as much information as possible. The frontpage of the displayed issue resembles a book page with the use of drop cap and with articles packed together without visual differentiation between news and advertisements.

As a talented writer and editor, Franklin added a breath of knowledge and sophistication to the contents that rivaled its European counterparts. His skilled editorship often intersected with his business acumen. He was attentive to American readers’ growing sensitivity to visual materials. A 1754 issue of the Gazette included a now popular political cartoon titled “Join or Die”, one of the earliest illustrations to be included in a newspaper body text (see below). He continued to use illustrations— also relief images produced from woodcuts—in later issues. The images of scythes and sickles in the paper on display made an effective sales appeal, as the view of the ship immediately grabs the attention of potential clients. With these visually engaging advertisements, Franklin was able to increase his subscriptions, grow his business, and build a printing network along the East Coast.

Despite his other achievements, Benjamin Franklin continued to consider himself a printer, as shown in the opening words of his will: “I, Benjamin Franklin of Philadelphia, printer.”

The Printing Museum Collection 1982.082.01

“Join, or Die”, woodcut, first published in the Pennsylvania Gazette, May 9, 1754. Originally appeared in response to French and Indian War, but was re-appropriated during the Revolutionary War. The image represents a snake segmented into 8 parts with initials of the 8 colonies (South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, New England). Image from the Library of Congress.

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U.S. Continental Currency, øth of a dollar [with the back of the bill shown in facsimile]

February 17, 1776


Hall & Sellers, printer

U.S. Continental Currency, $5 bill [with the back of the bill shown in facsimile]

September 26, 1778


Possibly Hall & Sellers, printer

Struggling to finance the Revolutionary War, and without the authority to tax, the Continental Congress began printing currency in 1775. The money was devoted toward war expenses, and was to be redeemed through taxes from each colony. However, continental notes, such as the examples on display, quickly became devalued due to a lack of systematic coordination and control of printing of currency amongst the states and the fledgling government. This gave rise to the phrase, “not worth a Continental.”

Nevertheless, Benjamin Franklin was a long-time advocate of paper money and contributed greatly to the design and printing of Pennsylvania and Continental currency. One major contribution was his implementation of an anti-counterfeit measure called “nature printing.” By pressing an item from nature, such as a leaf, into a cast mold, the plate with the nature image was then used to make a direct impression, or imprint, into the paper. While the technique existed since the Renaissance, its application to printed currency by Franklin—along with his use of the intricate and unique patterning made from the veins of a leaf—made the designs difficult for engravers to replicate. The two willow tree leaves on the back of the five-dollar bill on our display (bottom right), demonstrate his use of this technique.

Franklin also believed that printed money should contain meaningful words and symbols that demonstrated the enlightened minds and ideals that were shaping the developing American society. On the øth dollar bill (top left), he used a rebus, a puzzle using images and words. From a sundial (signifying “time”), a Latin word FUGIO (meaning “I fly”), and the phrase “Mind Your business”, the viewers read “Time flies so mind your business. Its meaning in modern sense would be: “time flies so take care of your business”. Additionally, on the back of the bill (top right), 13 rings with the names of the colonies are bound together with the motto “We Are One—American Congress”, strengthening the message of a united nation.

The Printing Museum Collection1998.122.012010.000.17

Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper

Saturday, May 31, 1862

New York, New York

Frank Leslie (English-born American, 1821–1880), publisher

Frank Leslie (born Henry Carter in England) came to New York as an illustrator and engraver in 1848, and quickly established his own magazine. In 1855, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, which ran until 1922, became the first successful pictorial weekly in America. Leslie’s break-through was devising a method of speeding the work of preparing illustrations for printing by dividing the image into as many as thirty- two separate sections for individual wood engravers. Significant American illustrators, such as Thomas Nast (1840–1902) began their careers at Frank Leslie’s paper, learning the business of illustration and techniques of wood engraving. (See the four Harper’s Weekly newspapers with cover illustrations by Thomas Nast near the gallery entryway.)

During the Civil War, the Newspaper published around 3,000 images of the battles and major figures, giving American readers a visual sense of the war’s action. In this front-page illustration, artist-correspondent William Waud (1830?–1878) is depicted in the foreground of the image of a battle between a Union fleet and the Confederate forces at Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The image portrays the significant role of the illustrator, showcasing how they were often sent into battle to capture key historic news and events. Illustrations, such as the one shown here, established the newspaper as an active and daring connector between the reader and the news event.

The Printing Museum Collection1982.109.01

The New-York Weekly Journal

Monday, January 14, 1733,* top

Monday, April 14, 1735, bottom

New York, New York

John Peter Zenger (German, 1697–1745), publisher, printer

In 1732, a newly-appointed governor William Cosby (1690–1736) incited dissatisfaction among the New York City Council over his salary. The only newspaper in the city at the time, the New York Gazette, was published by a pro-Cosby printer William Bradford. To voice their criticism, the opposition and a printer John Peter Zenger launched The New-York Weekly Journal. The front page article on a 1735 issue (bottom display) shows the political and business rivalry between the Journal and the Gazette as well as the role of newspapers in political discourse.

On January 15, 1734, one day after the eleventh issue (top display) was published, Crosby brought a libel case against Zenger. As the printer and editor, Zenger became solely responsible for the contents, effectively protecting the actual writers of the articles. In an ensuing trial (see image below), Zenger’s lawyer Andrew Hamilton famously argued that “the loss of liberty, to a generous mind, is worse than death”. Zenger’s eventual acquittal established that the truth of an assertion is adequate defense in a libel case, and marked a crucial step toward freedom of the press.

*The New York Weekly Journal began publishing in November 1733. The year date on the museum’s issue is likely a misprint of 1734, as Zenger is known to have misprinted dates and issues numbers on previous issues, including his first issue of publication.

The Printing Museum Collection2010.000.092010.000.10

“Andrew Hamilton Defending John Peter Zenger in Court, 1734–5”. Wood engraving, c. 1896. Originally published in Lamb, Martha J. History of the City of New York, v. 1 (New York: A.S. Barnes), 1896. Image from the Library of Congress.

New-York Daily Tribune

Friday, November 20, 1863

New York, New York

Horace Greeley (American, 1811–1872), publisher

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) delivered his famous address from the battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The following day, newspapers across the country published his speech recapitulating the ideal expressed in the Declaration of Independence that ‘all men are created equal.’ Printing Lincoln’s words brought his conception of the meaning of the Civil War into people’s minds and his ideas became an important part of the push to eliminate slavery.

Just as next-day access to Lincoln’s speech characterized the speed at which news was travelling at the time, a daily news cycle was becoming a part of people’s everyday lives and access to accounts of far-flung events provided some commonality in the fractured states. Layout changes to newspapers created speedier and more flexible reading experience. One such development that remains a journalistic convention today is the decked headline, shown here in the fifth column from the left:

THE GETTYSBURGE CEMETERY

THE CONSECRATION CEREMONIES

GRAND MILITARY AND CIVIC DISPLAYS

Speeches by the president, Secretary of State and Others.

The subheadings below the headline offer more information about the article for the reader’s convenience and discretion.

At the same time, advances in printing technology such as the wide-spread adoption of rotary presses where printing is done by a rotating cylinder rather than a flat plate spurred greater production efficiencies. A rotary press is depicted here in the center of the Tribune’s masthead on display.


Harper’s Weekly

January 3, 1874, August 1, 1874, May 5, 1877, and November 24, 1877

New York, New York

Harper’s Magazine Co., publisher

Following the success of the pioneering Illustrated London News and preceding the ultimate incorporation of photographic images in printed periodicals, American newspapers and magazines featuring significant illustrated content became more and more common in the late 19th century. Visual artists would fill a variety of journalistic roles from in-the-field documentarians to interpretive illustrators to political commentators. In 1857, just a year after Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper took off, Harper & Brothers publishing house began issuing the illustrated Harper’s Weekly, hoping to appeal to upper and middle-class audiences while creating a channel for advertising for their successful book business. On the cover, the magazine’s tagline, “A Journal of Civilization,” and title are surrounded by tokens of art, science, and history. From above, a torch is passed suggesting that the publication is lighting the way as a purveyor of culture and an agent of civilization.

Harper’s roster of artists over the years included Henry Mosler (1841–1920), the brothers Alfred (1828–1891) and William Waud (1832–1878), and Winslow Homer (1836–1910), among others. However, former Frank Leslie draftsman, Thomas Nast (1840–1902) would become the magazine’s most well-known contributor and the nation’s most influential political cartoonist. During his years with Harper’s, Nast created the elephant as the symbol of the Republican political party, and the modern depiction of Santa Claus. He is also attributed with the popularization of the Democratic donkey and Uncle Sam (seen here with a caricature of Nast himself). It is widely acknowledged that his cartoons played a part in the success of Lincoln’s and Grant’s presidential campaigns as well as contributing to the downfall of New York political boss William Tweed (1823–1878) and his corrupt Tammany Hall organization. About Nast’s cartoons, Tweed is purported to have complained, “I don’t care a straw for your newspaper articles. My constituents don’t know how to read, but they can’t help seeing them damned pictures!”

The Printing Museum Collection1997.022.01, 1997.022.04, 1997.022.02, 1997.022.03

The New-England Chronicle, or, The Essex Gazette

Thursday, March 28–Thursday, April 4, 1776

Cambridge, Massachusetts

S. & E. Hall, publisher

With the growing animosity of colonists against the British government, newspapers published, alongside the usual news and advertisements, political writings with strong partisan voice. Samuel Hall of The New- England Chronicle had established their newspaper business with the support of more liberal readers of Salem and later, Cambridge.

Publishing one of Thomas Paine’s writings on the frontpage shows the increasing politicization of newspapers like The Chronicle during the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Paine was a celebrity in 1776 following his successful and controversial publication of Common Sense. He denounced the British monarchy and wrote that American colonies “have it in our power to begin the world anew”. The writing influenced Thomas Jefferson, five months later, in writing the Declaration of Independence.

However, a faction of Quakers felt wary of the warlike atmosphere published a written statement at a general meeting that favored passive distancing from separationist rhetoric in the hope for peace. The letter to the Quakers shown in the display was Paine’s rebuttal that true peace can be attained by becoming free of the British oppression.

The Printing Museum Collection* 2010.000.12

The St. James’s Chronicle; or, British Evening Post

Saturday, March 1, 1777–Tuesday, March 4, 1777

London, England

Henry Baldwin (dates unknown), publisher, printer

Nathaniel Thomas (dates unknown) editor

The St. James’s Chronicle was a successful, long-running newspaper in Great Britain. While the issue on display dates to the late 18th century, it demonstrates the design conventions and editorial standards that had been well-established by British newspapers. Many early American publications, including The New England Chronicle (on display to the left), adopted elements such as elaborate mastheads and column dividing lines to compete with British newspapers.

The professional reporting and editing connected British readers to news from abroad. The Chronicle reported on the events of the Revolutionary War almost daily, including the battle between General Washington’s army against British forces in Trenton, New Jersey. Only six of Washington’s men were wounded while 1,000 British soldiers were taken prisoner. Although remaining critical of the outcome, the Chronicle maintains sympathetic voice for the British cause and exaggerated the number of Washington’s army to downplay the British defeat.

Even though it is a British newspaper, there were likely American subscribers to this publication during this period. Conservatives who disagreed with severing ties with Britain may have been inclined to continue reading British newspapers or American newspapers with more cautious stance toward the Revolutionary War.

The Printing Museum Collection*1992.008.01

The Boston Evening-Post

Monday, September 2, 1765

Boston, Massachusetts

Thomas Fleet Jr. (American, 1732–1797), publisher, printer

John Fleet (American, 1734–1806), publisher, printer

In 1765, the British Parliament ordered that publications made in the colonies must be printed on papers produced in London with revenue stamps (See detail image of a one penny stamp below). Commonly known as the Stamp Act, the colonists saw it as a taxation without representation and formed strong resistance, which became a pivotal event that led up to the American Revolution.

For the printers in American col-onies, the Act entailed a sudden increase in financial cost and challenges in securing paper supply. Consequently, they played a critical role in coalescing opposition and disseminating news of the resis-tance. The form of their protest to the Act varied (see example of stamp protest at far right). Some ceased their printing while others published without the stamps. Others published the details of tax agents such as their names, which open them up to threats by the colonists.

The Boston Evening Post represents the other side of the conflict. As their famous masthead logo with crown and heart shows the Fleet brothers were British loyalists. The frontpage on display prints proclamations that negatively portrays riots against the Stamp Act, and demands citizens to report any seditious behavior.


Detail image of a one penny stamp printed on partial proof sheet of one penny stamps, modification by the United Kingdom Government.

“An Emblem of the Effects of the STAMP,” originally printed on the bottom right hand corner of the October 24, 1765 issues of the Pennsylvania Gazette.

The Massachusetts Spy: Or, The Worcester Gazette

Wednesday, March 30, 1791

Worcester, Massachusetts

Isaiah Thomas (American, 1749–1831) publisher, printer

Isaiah Thomas started his Massachusetts Spy with an aim to make the newspaper accessible to everyone. Looking beyond sophisticated elites, Thomas embraced the growing number of literate middle- and working-class readers. The articles on the frontpage of the display, with topics such as curiosity, tolerance, children’s education, and the latest publication of Benjamin Franklin’s biography, show diversity in subject matter and a relatively straightforward writing style that appealed to greater public. At its height, the Spy enjoyed a circulation of 3,500, almost 9 times more than average papers at the time.

During the American Revolution, the Spy voiced the popular anger towards the British government, earning the newspaper the nickname “sedition factory”. Fearing the persecution by the British loyalists, Thomas fled from Boston to Worcester to continue his newspaper. The motto on the masthead “The Liberty of the Press is Essential to the Security of Freedom”, taken from the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, sums up Thomas’s belief that active readers were paramount forces in making America a free country. Additionally, his use of his surname “Thomas” as the central emblem of the masthead is suggestive of the elevated role and stature he gave to printers/ publishers (such as himself) in the defense and arbitration of truth and freedom.

Gift of Donald and Nancy Piercy1998.119.01

The Revolution

Thursday, December 31, 1868

New York, New York

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (American, 1815–1902), editor

Parker Pillsbury (American, 1809–1898), editor

Susan B. Anthony (American, 1820–1906), proprietor

After the Civil War, the fight for women’s rights was put on hold. The recovery for the nation and returning soldiers took precedence over the continuing advancement of women. With an aim to revitalize the women’s suffrage movement, two life-long friends Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton created The Revolution. As the official publication of the National Woman Suffrage Association, The Revolution established Anthony and Stanton’s leadership in the movement.

Considered the most radical among woman’s suffrage newspapers, the publication encouraged readers to submit petitions to their representa-tives, and provided them with information on broad topics as finances, literature, worker’s rights, reproductive rights and domestic violence. This successfully attracted working-class women to the readership and the suffragist cause. It also responded directly to current issues and debates, especially relating to suffrage. An article in the middle column addresses and criticizes Horace Greeley’s (founder and editor of the New York Tribune) contentious stance on women’s rights. See the panel on the opposite wall for more on suffragists and Horace Greeley’s stance on women printers and their labor movement.


The Freeman’s Journal and Philadelphia Mercantile Advertiser

Friday, September 4, 1812


William M’Corkle and James Elliot, publishers

Economic tensions caused by two decades of the Napoleonic Wars and a series of naval attacks by the British elicited President James Madison (1751–1836) to declare war on Britain on June 18, 1812. Within a month, the overmatched U.S. navy gained a dramatic victory in a battle 400 miles off Nova Scotia. The USS Constitution became known as “Ironsides” when its live oak hull seemed to be impervious to the cannon-fire of the HMS Guerrière. While the outcome had little strategic significance in the broad scheme of the War, the underdog success of a fledgling navy over the mighty British sea force inspired the optimism of the nation.

The use of a variety of typefaces sets off the effusive introduction to this reprinted account of the battle from an officer on the Constitution given to the Boston Gazette. Over time newspapers would begin to deploy reporters as eye witness correspondents to the events of the nation. An eagle (the national symbol since 1782) at the top of the page is a common motif in American papers of the time and seems to emphasize the national pride that accompanies this news.


New Hampshire Gazette

Tuesday, October 11, 1814

Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Daniel Fowle (c.1715–1787), founder

Within the increasingly politicized world of American newspapers in the post-Revolutionary War era, the New Hampshire Gazette’s publication of a commentary on William Ellery Channing’s (1780–1842) religious sermon in 1814 (top-left on display) takes on a political light. Channing, a politically active theologian, criticized how Napoleon Bonaparte’s un-christian character threatened Europe. An anonymous writer challenges this view, proposing that Christianity was more than niceties of social life and could withstand men like Napoleon.

This exchange over Napoleon’s merits disguises early-nineteenth century debates over the role of the U.S. in foreign affairs. When the British-French conflict during the Napoleonic War engulfed Europe and impeded transatlantic trades, Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) and his supporters wanted to side with the French to break completely away from the British and to show loyalty to the French who aided the Americans during the American Revolution. The consequent war against the British, the War of 1812, was considered by men like Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) as a “second war of independence”.

In contrast, Channing was sympathetic to the Federalists of New England who depended largely on trade with Britain and opposed the conflict. His sermon echoes the British anti-Napoleonic sentiment during this period. Although Napoleon was defeated earlier in 1814, the Americans were still fighting the British and the Gazette’s publication of the critique reflects how the Americans were not only in a military struggle, but also reflecting upon their national identity and place in the world.


The New York Herald

Thursday, October 17, 1861

New York, New York

James Gordon Bennett (Scottish-born American, 1795–1872), publisher

The Civil War began on April 12, 1861, as Confederate troops attacked Fort Sumter, in Charleston, South Carolina. The demand for news about the war in both the North and South encouraged an influx of reporters into Washington D.C. and onto the battle field. Along with the demand for news, the technological developments that emerged during Civil War—such as the telegraph, photography, and engraved illustrations—reshaped the nation’s press. The telegraph and its extensive use by the growing newspaper industry during this time had a long-lasting effect on journalism. While the telegraph was slow and expensive, with operators charging by the word to transmit messages, it encouraged reporters to write more succinctly. James Gordon Bennett, the publisher of The New York Herald was the first to implement these modern methods of news reporting. During the Civil War he maintained a staff of 63 war correspondents and used vivid illustrations to provide detailed accounts about the war.

Advances in ship building technology including steam power and iron hulls were also taking place. This newspaper describes the Union’s pursuit of the Confederate steamer, the Nashville. The steamer had evaded Union steamers blockading the port of Charleston and carried two Confederate ambassadors on route to seek aid from Europe. Upon orders from Washington, the steamers Alabama and Augusta were dispatched to follow and capture the officials. These former merchant vessels turned war steamers improved strategic movements and led the US to become an unrivaled naval force. This force coincided with the technological advancements in the printing industry—also driven by invention and steam power—creating an unparalled news industry.


The New York Herald

Tuesday, September 23, 1862

New York, New York

James Gordon Bennett (Scottish-born American, 1795–1872), publisher

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation announcing that, if the rebel states did not rejoin the Union by January 1, 1863, all slaves held in those states would be “thenceforward, and forever free.” In doing so, Lincoln began to shift the perceived focus of the Civil War from an effort to preserve the Union to a cause for human freedom. In addition to being reprinted in news-papers like this one, the U.S. Government Printing Office printed 15,000 copies of the preliminary Proclamation for the War Department for distribution to the military and diplomatic corps. One hundred days later, with the Confederacy still in full revolt, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation.

In antebellum America, the education of enslaved Americans of African descent was strongly discouraged and, in some Southern states, illegal. Even under such categorical repression, it was estimated that at least 10% of slaves were literate. The Proclamation represented a step toward freedom associated with the Union cause, and propagated by the printed word, to a population for whom literacy would explode in the ensuing years. It is otherwise noteworthy that, here, in an adjacent article about military actions near Louisville, Kentucky, two maps are included to add visual reference points to help illustrate the locations of the battles. By this time, Kentucky, which had claimed neutrality early in the Civil War, had received Union protection against Confederate attacks. The state’s strategic geographic and political importance made it a heavily contested front and key to the fight for emancipation.

Loan from the Printing Industries of Texas Insurance AgencyL1992.003.01

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