The Tyranny of Printers": Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic

Rating:
Summary: How newspaper editors created our political system
Review: Jeff Pasley's "The Tyranny of Printers" is a fresh look at American politics and journalism in the early Republic. The traditional narrative of journalism in the early Republic is that a weak press tyrannized by political parties produced some of the most subservient and unfree journalism ever seen in America. Pasley turns this narrative on its head, arguing that printers and newspapers in fact created the modern party system. Far from being party stooges, printers were in fact politicians with a major stake in the issues of the day; far from politically subservient, printers provided the organizational glue that held the early parties together.

Pasley argues that newspaper editors provided the crucial ideological and organizational tools that were needed to negotiate the chaotic political waters of the early Republic in part because printers were the only truly professional politicians of the time. Parties lacked permanent organization in the early Republic; campaign season brought political operatives and candidates out of the woodwork, but for the rest of the year it fell to editors to mediate between politicians and constituents.
Newspaper offices, which often doubled as local post offices and as reading rooms for out-of-town papers, were logical locations for official party meetings and informal affairs. Editors were uniquely placed to gauge public opinion because of the volume of other papers that passed through their offices. By reprinting accounts of party rallies, toasts, speeches and marches, newspapers spread the party's message to many more people than ever could have seen the event in person and created an "imagined community" of party followers spread over the entire nation. The printing of toasts and speeches also allowed editor-politicians to simultaneously forge a national party ideology and to tone down the parts of that ideology that might not play well in certain states or regions.

Pasley argues that the first party to understand and use newspapers in politics was Thomas Jefferson's Republican party. The Republicans were able to deploy the press effectively as a weapon at least partly because of their willingness to let a certain class of people into the political arena - artisan printers. The Federalist newspapers that sprang up to counter the Republican press were generally run by young aristocrats who wrote and copied articles from other papers but didn't actually do the hard manual labor of setting type and printing papers. Republican editors, by contrast, tended to be printers themselves, raised in a declining artisanal tradition and realizing that the road to success might lead them down an untraditional path. By understanding artisanal editors to have played such a large role in the birth of political parties, Pasley provides fresh new evidence for the idea of a great democratization of politics occurring in the early Republic. The party editors of Jefferson's and Jackson's days were certainly not of the lowest class of people, but they were manual laborers who conformed to an old, hard-drinking tradition that was anathematic to refined Federalist or neo-Federalist aristocrats.

The most revolutionary aspect of Pasley's book may be found in the way it understands the relationship between journalists and politicians. The received wisdom of the journalism world focuses on notions of objectivity and partisanship; the era of the political press is seen as a low point of American journalism. Pasley's argument suggests that printers of that era may well have had more influence over politics and that ordinary voters may have been much more well-informed than voters are today. The union of journalism and politics that Pasley describes is one that held many advantages for both the printers and the parties of the day.

Rating:
Summary: One of 2001's best nonfiction books
Review: Jeff Pasley's "The Tyranny of Printers" is a fresh look at American politics and journalism in the early Republic. The traditional narrative of journalism in the early Republic is that a weak press tyrannized by political parties produced some of the most subservient and unfree journalism ever seen in America. Pasley turns this narrative on its head, arguing that printers and newspapers in fact created the modern party system. Far from being party stooges, printers were in fact politicians with a major stake in the issues of the day; far from politically subservient, printers provided the organizational glue that held the early parties together.

Pasley argues that newspaper editors provided the crucial ideological and organizational tools that were needed to negotiate the chaotic political waters of the early Republic in part because printers were the only truly professional politicians of the time. Parties lacked permanent organization in the early Republic; campaign season brought political operatives and candidates out of the woodwork, but for the rest of the year it fell to editors to mediate between politicians and constituents.
Newspaper offices, which often doubled as local post offices and as reading rooms for out-of-town papers, were logical locations for official party meetings and informal affairs. Editors were uniquely placed to gauge public opinion because of the volume of other papers that passed through their offices. By reprinting accounts of party rallies, toasts, speeches and marches, newspapers spread the party's message to many more people than ever could have seen the event in person and created an "imagined community" of party followers spread over the entire nation. The printing of toasts and speeches also allowed editor-politicians to simultaneously forge a national party ideology and to tone down the parts of that ideology that might not play well in certain states or regions.

Pasley argues that the first party to understand and use newspapers in politics was Thomas Jefferson's Republican party. The Republicans were able to deploy the press effectively as a weapon at least partly because of their willingness to let a certain class of people into the political arena - artisan printers. The Federalist newspapers that sprang up to counter the Republican press were generally run by young aristocrats who wrote and copied articles from other papers but didn't actually do the hard manual labor of setting type and printing papers. Republican editors, by contrast, tended to be printers themselves, raised in a declining artisanal tradition and realizing that the road to success might lead them down an untraditional path. By understanding artisanal editors to have played such a large role in the birth of political parties, Pasley provides fresh new evidence for the idea of a great democratization of politics occurring in the early Republic. The party editors of Jefferson's and Jackson's days were certainly not of the lowest class of people, but they were manual laborers who conformed to an old, hard-drinking tradition that was anathematic to refined Federalist or neo-Federalist aristocrats.

The most revolutionary aspect of Pasley's book may be found in the way it understands the relationship between journalists and politicians. The received wisdom of the journalism world focuses on notions of objectivity and partisanship; the era of the political press is seen as a low point of American journalism. Pasley's argument suggests that printers of that era may well have had more influence over politics and that ordinary voters may have been much more well-informed than voters are today. The union of journalism and politics that Pasley describes is one that held many advantages for both the printers and the parties of the day.

Rating:
Summary: One of 2001's best nonfiction books
Review: The St. Louis Post-Dispatch chose "Tyranny of Printers" as one of the best books of 2001 in its November 25 edition (...).

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic new look at Revolutionary journalism
Review: The Tyranny of Printers is a history book that accomplishes a lot at the same time. On one hand, it offers a new and fascinating look at journalism during the Revolutionary Period. Pasley essentially argues that rather than being tools of the parties, journalists themselves were responsible for dictating the rise of party politics.

The book is very well-written and manages to be entertaining enough for a general audience but also incredibly useful for the academic world, which is very tough to do. Pasley mainly uses a series of biographical portraits to construct his narrative, which makes the book easy to digest but does restrict his ability to apply his conclusions to a larger population, but I never doubted his findings.

As with any book, Pasley obviously takes sides. The newspaper men emerge as the true heroes: bold and fearless spreaders of democracy who had a fundamental role in the rise of party politics of the period. Extending that, the Jeffersonians (and not the currently chic Hamiltonians) are the politicians who were more in tough with spirit of democracy that the nation was founded on, and this propellem them to their dramatic victory in the election of 1800.

Pasley's book is inventive, enjoyable, and highly informative. I suggest to any casual or serious student of the Early American Republic. It is a welcome antidote to the current trend in Founding Father hagiography.

Rating:
Summary: The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics
Review: The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic written by Jeffrey L. Pasley is a book that gives an overall picture of the power of the press in our early American Republic from the Revolutionary period to the Jacksonians. Newspaper based politics is a term used much in this book to describe the type and level associated with the local party.

The classic case of newspaper-based politics was when Thomas Jefferson used one paper in Philadelphia to do his bidding against Alexander Hamilton... not to mention that Jefferson got caught. Newspapers were the central source of news, outside of word of mouth, and a network of newspapers really gave both the candidate and the paper momentum and political life. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was a real hotbed where newspapers breathed, newpapers were the republic's central political institutions, working components of the political system rather than just commentators on it. This was true all the way to the end of the Jacksonian era of democracy.

This book has a narrative that flows quite well and keeps the reader well informed and is full of anecdotes. Jefferson, Madison and Monroe all used the press to their collective advantage as they striped the power away from the Federalists, but not only is this book about how they politician used the press. The most interesting story is how the author enlivens his narrative with accounts of the colorful but often tragic careers of the individual editors.

There is a companion web site that readers should consult at: [url] serving as an extension of the book... this site contains important supporting material information. The book has endnotes rather than footnotes concentrating all of the supporting information toward the back of the book. There is a very good bibliography with this book that supports the writing very well.

As time marchs on... reading this book give us a glimpse in the window of a time where political goals were linked to the newspapers and their editors making the full circle of the political process, linking parties, voters and the government together... the newspapers were the linchpin of early political power. This book is very informative and gives a rare look into the life at times of some of the more interesting minor players of early American Politics the editors.

I enjoyed reading this book as it still had a familiar theme but the players were the most interesting as the Americian political process still worked, a very interesting book, indeed.

Rating:
Summary: The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics
Review: The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic written by Jeffrey L. Pasley is a book that gives an overall picture of the power of the press in our early American Republic from the Revolutionary period to the Jacksonians. Newspaper based politics is a term used much in this book to describe the type and level associated with the local party.

The classic case of newspaper-based politics was when Thomas Jefferson used one paper in Philadelphia to do his bidding against Alexander Hamilton... not to mention that Jefferson got caught. Newspapers were the central source of news, outside of word of mouth, and a network of newspapers really gave both the candidate and the paper momentum and political life. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was a real hotbed where newspapers breathed, newpapers were the republic's central political institutions, working components of the political system rather than just commentators on it. This was true all the way to the end of the Jacksonian era of democracy.

This book has a narrative that flows quite well and keeps the reader well informed and is full of anecdotes. Jefferson, Madison and Monroe all used the press to their collective advantage as they striped the power away from the Federalists, but not only is this book about how they politician used the press. The most interesting story is how the author enlivens his narrative with accounts of the colorful but often tragic careers of the individual editors.

There is a companion web site that readers should consult at: [url] serving as an extension of the book... this site contains important supporting material information. The book has endnotes rather than footnotes concentrating all of the supporting information toward the back of the book. There is a very good bibliography with this book that supports the writing very well.

As time marchs on... reading this book give us a glimpse in the window of a time where political goals were linked to the newspapers and their editors making the full circle of the political process, linking parties, voters and the government together... the newspapers were the linchpin of early political power. This book is very informative and gives a rare look into the life at times of some of the more interesting minor players of early American Politics the editors.

I enjoyed reading this book as it still had a familiar theme but the players were the most interesting as the Americian political process still worked, a very interesting book, indeed.