The Constitutional Courant was a single issue colonial American-newspaper published in response to the Stamp Act 1765. It was printed by William Goddard under an assumed name of Andrew Marvel. The newspaper vociferously attacked the Stamp Act in strong language, which caught the attention of colonial printers and royal colonial officials alike. The Courant and its general message proved popular and the newspaper was soon reprinted in other major towns and distributed elsewhere among the colonies.
The Courant, which had a publication date of September 21, 1765, prominently reprinted Benjamin Franklin's 1754 Join or Die editorial cartoon.
History
In 1765 the British Parliament passed the Stamp Act to help pay the debts it incurred during the Seven Years' War, which imposed a tax on an assortment of paper documents, including newspapers, contracts, deeds, wills and other such legal documents. The new tax was widely received with strong disapproval, especially by printers and newspaper publishers, many of whom suspended printing of their newspapers in protest.[1][2]
In response to the Stamp Act the Courant was privately printed by William Goddard in Woodbridge, New Jersey on the press of James Parker, a printer with whom Goddard once served as an apprentice under. Goddard had previously approached John Holt as a prospective printer, but Holt declined Goddard's request. The Courant caught the notice of both patriots and the British colonial government.[1][2][3][a]
The heading of The Constitutional Courant was inscribed with an imprint which read, "Printed by Andrew Marvel, at the Sign of the Bribe refused, on Constitution-Hill, North America." In the center of the title was the now famous image of a snake, cut into parts, which represented the dis-unified colonies, with the motto, "Join or die". Below the title heading, was an address to the public from the fictitious printer and publisher, Andrew Marvel. The first printing of this paper was published without a date, but was printed on Saturday, September 21, 1765, some two months before the Stamp Act was to take effect.[2][4] For its motto, the words "Containing matters interesting to Liberty, and nowise repugnant to Loyalty." were imprinted just below its heading.[5] The Courant presented an assortment of articles of a highly inflammatory nature deriding the new tax, which aptly reflected the growing resentment among the colonists.[6]
The Constitutional Courant was the first newspaper to appear in New Jersey.[1] While the Courant circulated in other colonies due to its popular sentiments, its demand proved so great that it was also reprinted in Boston and Philadelphia, joining other newspapers which were already vehemently criticizing the Stamp Act. Sales of the Courant saw unusually high numbers. The newspaper was secretly sent to New York and hawked on the streets by newsboys hired for that purpose, while it was also distributed along all the post-roads by colonial riders.[7][5] In New York, however, which was a largely loyalist town, the articles in the Courant strongly criticizing the Stamp Act were considered too extreme by most newspapers and subsequently the newspaper saw little distribution there.[8][5]
The appearance of the Courant in New York was taken notice by the colonial government there and was the cause of much excitement. A council was called, and held at the fort in that city, but the identity of the author and printer could not be determined, and no action could be taken. One of the council members demanded of one of the hawkers, named Lawrence Sweeney, "where that incendiary paper was printed?" Sweeney was already prepared for such an encounter and was instructed to answer " At Peter Hassenclever's iron-works, please your honor." Peter Hassenclever was a wealthy German, well renown as the owner of huge iron works in New Jersey. Later other publications of a like kind frequently appeared with an imprint that read, "Printed at Peter Hassenclever's iron-works." Only one issue of The Constitutional Courant was published, as continued publication of the Courant, however, was never intended.[2][b]
The Stamp Act 1765, also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765, was an act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British colonies in America and required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced on stamped paper from London which included an embossed revenue stamp. Printed materials included legal documents, magazines, playing cards, newspapers, and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies, and it had to be paid in British currency, not in colonial paper money.
William Bradford was an early American colonial printer and publisher in British America. Bradford is best known for establishing the first printing press in the Middle colonies of the Thirteen Colonies, founding the first press in Pennsylvania in 1685 and the first press in New York in 1693. Bradford operated continuously printing establishments for sixty-two years, heading a family that would include printers and publishers for 140 years. He was also known for controversies regarding freedom of the press. Starting his printing career in London, Bradford emigrated to America in 1685. He established, with others, the first paper mill to appear in the Thirteen American Colonies.
The New Hampshire Gazette is a nonprofit, alternative, bi-weekly newspaper published in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Its editors claim that the paper, which all but disappeared into other publications until the late 1900s, is the oldest newspaper in the United States. The paper trademarked the phrase "The Nation's Oldest Newspaper" after being revived as a small biweekly in 1989. This assertion is highly contested, and the Hartford Courant is generally understood to be the nation's oldest newspaper when considering scholarly articles, standard journalism, and historical texts.
Daniel Fowle was a colonial American printer and publisher before and during the American Revolution, and the founder of The New Hampshire Gazette. He printed Samuel Adams' newspaper, The Independent Advertiser. He was jailed for printing a damaging account on the conduct of various Massachusetts representatives and after his trial, he lost his license to print. Dismayed with the Massachusetts government he subsequently chose to remove from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and established The New Hampshire Gazette. During the course of his printing career Fowle employed several apprentices. Using his newspaper, he openly criticized the Stamp Act in 1765. After American independence was established he was commissioned to print the state laws of New Hampshire.
John Holt (1721—1784) was a colonial American newspaper publisher, printer, postmaster, and mayor of Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. He was involved with publishing the Connecticut Gazette, the New York Gazette, and the New-York Journal newspapers. He worked with Benjamin Franklin, the prominent publisher James Parker, and Founding Father Samuel Adams. He had a store that sold miscellaneous supplies, ink, paper, and books on a variety of subjects including religion, freemasonry, economics, history, archaeology, poetry, and biographies.
Join, or Die. is a political cartoon showing the disunity in the American colonies, originally in the context of the French and Indian War in 1754. Attributed to Benjamin Franklin, the original publication by The Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754, is the earliest known pictorial representation of colonial union produced by an American colonist in Colonial America. It was based on a superstition that if a snake was cut in pieces and the pieces were put together before sunset, the snake would return to life.
Letters from a Farmer in Pennsylvania is a series of essays written by the Pennsylvania lawyer and legislator John Dickinson (1732–1808) and published under the pseudonym "A Farmer" from 1767 to 1768. The twelve letters were widely read and reprinted throughout the Thirteen Colonies, and were important in uniting the colonists against the Townshend Acts in the run-up to the American Revolution. According to many historians, the impact of the Letters on the colonies was unmatched until the publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense in 1776. The success of the letters earned Dickinson considerable fame.
William Goddard was an early American patriot, publisher, printer and postal inspector. Born in New London, Connecticut, Goddard lived through the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, during which he opposed British rule of the colonies through his actions and publications. He was a major figure in the development of the colonial postal system, which became the U.S. Post Office after the American Revolution.
The Pennsylvania Chronicle and Universal Advertiser was an American colonial newspaper founded in 1767 that was published in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, prior to the American Revolution. It was founded by William Goddard and his silent business partners Joseph Galloway and Thomas Wharton. Benjamin Franklin, an associate of Galloway, was also a partner with the Chronicle.
Samuel Kneeland (c.1696–1769) was an American printer and publisher of The Boston Gazette and Weekly Journal. Kneeland obtained much of his work printing laws and other official documents for the Province of Massachusetts Bay colonial government for about two decades. He printed the first Bible in the English language ever produced in the American colonies, along with many other religious and spiritual works, including the Book of Psalms. He was also noted for introducing a number of innovations to newspaper printing and journalism. He was one of many colonial printers who were strongly opposed to and outspoken against the Stamp Act in 1765. Kneeland, primarily, along with his sons, were responsible for printing the greater majority of books, magazines and pamphlets published in Boston during his lifetime.
David Hall was a British printer who immigrated from Scotland to America and became an early American printer, publisher and business partner with Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. He eventually took over Franklin's printing business of producing official documents for the colonial province of Pennsylvania and that of publishing The Pennsylvania Gazette newspaper that Franklin had acquired in 1729. Hall formed his own printing firm in 1766 and formed partnership firms with others. He published material for the colonial government.
Sarah Updike Goddard was an early American printer, as well as a co-founder and publisher of the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, the first newspaper founded in Providence, Rhode Island. She worked closely with her son William and daughter Mary Katherine, who both also became printers and publishers, forming one of the earliest influential publishing dynasties in the American colonies.
The Providence Gazette was an American Revolutionary War era newspaper, and the only newspaper printed in Providence before 1775. It was first published October 20, 1762, by William Goddard and his partner John Carter in the basement of his Providence home, on a sheet of crown size, folio; an image of the king's arms decorated the title. It was printed every Saturday, from types of English and long primer. In 1768 Carter became the sole proprietor of the newspaper.
Early American publishers and printers played a central role in the social, religious, political and commercial development of the Thirteen Colonies in British America prior to and during the American Revolution and the ensuing American Revolutionary War that established American independence.
Bibliography of early American publishers and printers is a selection of books, journals and other sigmass devoted to these topics covering their careers and other activities before, during and after the American Revolution. Various works that are not primarily devoted to those topics, but whose content devotes itself to them in significant measure, are sometimes included here also. Works about Benjamin Franklin, a famous printer and publisher, among other things, are too numerous to list in this bibliography, can be found at Bibliography of Benjamin Franklin, and are generally not included here unless they are intensely devoted to Franklin's printing career. Single accounts of printers and publishers that occur in encyclopedia articles are not included here.
The Massachusetts Gazette was a colonial American newspaper established by Richard Draper, printer for the royal governor and council in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. As the American Revolution drew closer, it was commissioned by the colonial government to lend its support for the measures of the British ministry. It was one of the few Loyalist newspapers operating during the years leading up to the revolution.
Samuel Hall (1740-1807), was an Early American publisher and printer, newspaper editor, and an ardent colonial American patriot from Bedford, Massachusetts who was active in this capacity before and during the American Revolution, often printing newspapers and pamphlets in support of American independence. Hall was the founder of The Essex Gazette, the first newspaper published in Salem, Massachusetts in 1768. He often employed his newspaper as a voice supporting colonial grievances over taxation and other actions by the British Parliament that were considered oppressive, and ultimately in support of American independence.
The Essex Gazette was a weekly newspaper established in 1768 by Samuel Hall in Salem, Massachusetts, as the city's first newspaper and the first published in Massachusetts outside Boston, the colony's capital. it was the third newspaper to appear in Massachusetts. From its start, the newspaper was a strong proponent of American independence. The Gazette was relocated to Cambridge in 1775 following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. In early 1776, after the British army was driven from Boston, Hall moved the Gazette to the city, changing its name to The New England Chronicle.
Richard Draper (1726–1774) was an early American Boston printer and an editor of The Boston News-Letter. Together with his father and his nephew Draper printed and published The News-Letter. In the years leading up to the American Revolution Draper sided with the Loyalists and the Tory party, and through his newspaper he provided a voice for the Loyalist writers in Massachusetts and elsewhere.
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