CHAPTER VIII
PERIOD OF EARLY REPUBLIC
1783—1812
When the American colonies secured their independence and faced the problem of self-government, the conditions were extremely favorable for a revival of papers which had suspended publication during the war and also for the establishment of many new journals to mirror the radical changes of the times. The few Tory sheets which had survived through the cooperation of British arms now changed their policies and became loyal supporters of the new Republic. The people, ever mindful of the past, refused to subscribe or to support such papers. After brief struggles for existence they discontinued publication and their publishers made a living as booksellers, stationers, job printers, etc.
Controversies which soon arose between States became so bitter as almost to lead to civil war. They changed even the colorless and purposeless newspaper into a fighting organ. Editorial policies were largely determined by geographical location. To this stimulus may be attributed the influence secured by the local press—an influence even greater than that of the Revolutionary Period.
The debates over the adoption of the Constitution broke down the geographical lines and divided the press as well as the people into two groups, one which favored and the other which opposed. Some of the newspapers which had been most urgent in demanding nothing but absolute independence from England were among those which sought to delay or even to defeat the adoption of the Federal Constitution. The subsequent death of some of these journals was due to the fact that however sincere they might have been they took what later proved to be the unpopular side of this great issue. Others, often new publications, met with immediate favor because of the fervor with which they advocated the needs of such a document.
