It Runs in the Family: the Bradfords, Print, and Liberty (1680-1810)
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Université de Montréal It Runs in the Family: the Bradfords, print, and liberty (1680-1810) par Catherine Tourangeau Département d’histoire, Faculté des arts et des sciences Mémoire présenté à la Faculté des arts et des sciences en vue de l’obtention du grade de maîtrise en histoire, option recherche Août 2013 Copyright, Catherine Tourangeau, 2013 Résumé En se basant sur l’histoire des Bradfords, l’une des plus grandes familles d’imprimeurs de l’histoire américaine, ce mémoire étudie la relation entre l’imprimé, les imprimeurs, et divers discours sur la liberté au cours du « long » 18e siècle. Il retrace la transition entre une ère de la « liberté de parole, » née des débats sur la liberté de presse et d’expression de la période coloniale, et une ère de la « parole de la liberté, » née au cours de la Révolution et entretenue sous la jeune république. Cette transition fut le produit de la transformation du discours des contemporains sur la liberté, mais s’effectua également en lien avec la transformation du milieu de l’imprimerie et de la culture de l’imprimé. Selon les circonstances politiques, sociales, économiques et culturelles particulières des périodes coloniale, révolutionnaire, et républicaine, l’imprimé et les imprimeurs américains furent appelés à disséminer et à contribuer au discours sur la liberté. Ils établirent ainsi une forte association entre l’imprimé et la liberté dans la culture de l’imprimé du 18e siècle, qui était destinée à être transmise aux siècles suivants. Mots-clés : imprimeurs, histoire du livre, culture de l’imprimé, journaux, opinion publique, 18e siècle ii Abstract Based on the family history of the Bradfords, one of America’s most celebrated printing dynasties, this thesis studies the interplay between print, printers, and various discourses on freedom during of the long 18th century and through the colonial, revolutionary, and early republican periods. It traces the transition between an era of the “speech of freedom,” born out of the colonial debates on the freedom of speech and press, and an era of the “freedom of speech,” born in the course of the Revolution and upheld during the early republic. This transition resulted from the transformation of the contemporaries’ discourse on liberty, but also had to do with the transformation of the printing trade and print culture. As a result of the political, social, economic, and cultural circumstances of the colonial, revolutionary, and early republican periods, American print and printers were led to disseminate and to contribute to the discourse on liberty. They thus established a strong association between print and freedom in the 18th-century print culture, an association which was destined to be transmitted to the following centuries. Key words: printers, book history, print culture, newspapers, public opinion, 18th century iii Table of contents RÉSUMÉ ............................................................................................................................................................. II ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................................................... III LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................................................... V CAST OF CHARACTERS ......................................................................................................................................... 18 CHAPTER ONE: COLONIAL PRINTERS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR PRESS FREEDOM ............................................................ 19 1. A PIONEER PRINTER IN THE MIDDLE COLONIES (1680-1720) ....................................................................... 19 A. WILLIAM BRADFORD IN AMERICA ................................................................................................................. 19 B. “THE LAW AND THE FACT” ......................................................................................................................... 23 C. THE “BRADFORD CORRIDOR” ...................................................................................................................... 28 2. A BURGEONING PRESS IN A BURGEONING SOCIETY (1720-1750)................................................................... 30 A. THE PRINTING TRADE, PRINT CULTURE, AND PRESS FREEDOM BEFORE ZENGER ............................................................. 30 B. THE ZENGER TRIAL ................................................................................................................................. 34 3. FROM A BRADFORD TO ANOTHER ...................................................................................................... 43 CHAPTER TWO: REVOLUTIONARY PRINTERS AND THE QUEST FOR POLITICAL LIBERTY .................................................. 44 1. PRINTERS AND LIBERTY ON THE EVE OF REVOLUTION ............................................................................... 44 A. WILLIAM BRADFORD III: UPHOLDING THE FAMILY’S LEGACY ................................................................................... 44 B. INTEGRATING THE ENGLISH ATLANTIC WORLD .................................................................................................. 48 2. THE STAMP ACT CRISIS ................................................................................................................... 57 A. THE STAMP ACT: PROLOGUE TO REVOLUTION ................................................................................................... 57 B. RESISTING THE STAMP ACT ........................................................................................................................ 59 C. PRINTERS AND THE STAMP ACT’S LEGACY........................................................................................................ 61 3. PRINTERS AND THE WAR OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE ............................................................................ 64 A. WILLIAM BRADFORD’S WAR ........................................................................................................................ 64 B. PATRIOTS AND THE PRESS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE SPEECH OF FREEDOM ............................................................ 66 4. UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES: THE “CONTAGION OF LIBERTY” ................................................................... 70 CHAPTER THREE: THE EARLY REPUBLIC AND THE CONTAGION OF FREEDOM ............................................................... 72 1. THE BRADFORDS AND THE NEW NATION .............................................................................................. 72 2. PRINT AND PARTISANSHIP ................................................................................................................ 75 A. PARTY POLITICS IN THE 1780S AND 1790S ..................................................................................................... 75 B. PRINTERS, PUBLISHERS, AND THE PARTISAN PRESS .............................................................................................. 79 3. PRINT AND SLAVERY ...................................................................................................................... 84 A. SLAVERY AND THE SPEECH OF FREEDOM .......................................................................................................... 84 B. ABOLITIONISM AND THE PRINTING TRADE ....................................................................................................... 88 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................................ 100 iv List of figures Fig. 1 The “Tombstone Edition” of the Pennsylvania Journal, October 31st, 1765. ............................................ 63 Fig. 2 A slave auction taking place in front of the London Coffee House. Litograph by W. L. Breton. Philadelphia, 1830. .............................................................................................................................................. 93 v Acknowledgements I would like to express my utmost gratitude to my supervisor, François Furstenberg. This thesis would not have happened without his unwavering support and his precious insights. I would also like to acknowledge other professors who have contributed to shape my outlook both on history and on the historical profession. I am particularly indebted to Susan Dalton, Thomas Wien, and Ollivier Hubert at the Université de Montréal, and Catherine Desbarats at McGill University. Finally, I offer my sincerest thanks to my friends and family. I could not have done it without you. Sarah, Catherine, David, and all the others—thank you for making me laugh and for forcing me to “always look on the bright side of life.” Mom, Dad, Laurence—thank you for your comforting and steadfast presence. vi Introduction: Print, printers, and the speech of freedom Her bold Machine redeems the patriot’s fame From royal malice, and the bigot’s flame; To bounded thrones displays the legal plan, And vindicates the dignity of man. Tyrants and time, in her, lose half their pow’r; And Reason shall subsist …1 These lines are from an 8-page long anonymous poem printed in March 1758 by William Bradford III in his American Magazine and Monthly Chronicle for the British Colonies. Titled “On the Invention of Letters and the Art of Printing,” the poem addresses the impact of the printing press on the progress of reason and liberty