Jefferson and Madison Used Newspapers to Launch Their Party
In the Early Republic, newspapers evolved into partisan publications. John Fenno, a journalist for the Boston Centinel, wrote a defense of the Constitution, attracting the attention of prominent Federalists. In 1789, they backed him when he moved to New York City to publish the Gazette of the United States. Fenno wanted his Gazette to be the nation’s official newspaper that defended Washington, his administration, and its policies. Soon, he gained the support of Alexander Hamilton, Jefferson’s arch rival. Jefferson worried that officials would misuse or abuse federal authority. Jefferson recruited Philip Freneau to publish the National Gazette. Freneau’s Gazette criticized Washington, his administration, and especially Alexander Hamilton and his financial policies. Hiding behind pseudonyms, Jefferson and Madison wrote articles for the National Gazette. They used Freneau’s Gazette to launch the Democratic-Republican party. In 1800, the state of Massachusetts was split politically between Jefferson’s party and the reigning Federalists. Roughly 20,000 voters were Democratic-Republican; about 25,000 voters were Federalists.[1]
After Jefferson was elected president, the Democratic-Republicans set their sights on augmenting their gains in New England. New Englanders from Jefferson’s cabinet persuaded editors to publish Democratic-Republican newspapers throughout the region. By 1803, an observer noted that so many Democratic-Republican newspapers were emerging that he could no longer keep track of them all.[2] The Democratic-Republican pressure in New England was too much for a group of Federalists dubbed the “Essex Junto” to bear. They decided to take action.
What do you think? Do you prefer impartial news reporting, or news blended with political opinions?
Next: How the Essex Junto Responded to the Democratic-Republican Challenge
Look for it Monday, December 17.
[1]Henry Adams, History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson, (New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 1986) 54.
[2] Jeffrey Pasley, The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic, (Charlottesville, University of Virginia Press, 2001) 211.
