Time trip - newspaper publishing

Current Events, March 22, 2002

* The first American newspaper, Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick, was published in Boston on Sept. 25, 1690, by Benjamin Harris. It vowed to publish "once a [month] (or if any Glut of Occurrences happen, oftener)." But once was enough for the Colonial governor, who banned the paper and jailed Harris for printing it "Without the least ... Countenance for Authority." A gossipy story about the flirtations of the king of France peeved the governor, as did an article criticizing the "barbarous" ways in which the Indian allies of the English treated their French prisoners during the first of the four French and Indian Wars. So, the first newspaper in America became the nation's first officially suppressed newspaper.

* The Massachusetts Spy, which Isaiah Thomas began publishing in 1770, printed an eyewitness account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). The anti-British paper proved popular among Colonists but not so pleasing to British authorities. Later in 1775, Thomas smuggled his printing press out of Boston and fled to Worchester, Mass.

* In 1791, the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution, went into effect. The First Amendment protects, among other rights, the freedom of the press. This amendment allows journalists to publish or broadcast information without government interference, with a few exceptions settled in the courts.

* In 1833, the New York Sun became the country's first "penny" paper, selling on the streets for 1 cent. (See 1800s photo of newsboys hawking penny papers above.) Prior to that, a few big-city papers sold for about 6 cents a copy, but most newspapers were sold by subscription for a sum few could afford. Most of those newspapers cost $6 to $10 a year--the average weekly salary!

* Unlike during the Revolutionary War, when it took people in the Colony of Georgia six weeks to hear about the Battles of Lexington and Concord, word during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1865) traveled fast. Reporters filed stories using telegraphs, an earlier invention that allowed for the transmission of information over wires.

WORDS IN THE NEWS

Below are some key words used in this issue of Current Events. Knowing their meanings will be helpful in understanding recent news events.

* French and Indian Wars (1689-1763) (page 2).

The French and Indian Wars were four wars fought primarily between England and France in North America during the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The wars were fought over control of North American territories and settlements. Both sides fought with the support of various Native American tribes.

In 1689, most of France's settlements lay north of the English colonies, but France also claimed southern land in the Missisippi River Valley. England claimed the territory of its 13 Colonies and also hoped to settle land west of the Appalachian Mountains--land primarily controlled by Native Americans. At the Treaty of Paris in 1763, France ceded almost all its land in what is now known as Canada to Britain, and also ceded its southern settlements, with the exception of New Orleans.

* Revolutionary War (1775-1783) (page 2).

The Revolutionary War, also called the American Revolution, was fought between Great Britain and its 13 North American Colonies. The war began after Great Britain imposed a series of tax laws on the Colonists without their consent.

On April 19, 1775, American patriot soldiers clashed with British soldiers at Lexington, Mass., and nearby Concord. At the time, as many as a third of the Colonists supported Great Britain. Although American soldiers and leaders were less experienced than the British, the Colonists were able to gain the advantage under the leadership of Gen. George Washington. The surrender of Great Britain's Gen. Cornwallis in 1781 ended most of the fighting. The Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783, officially recognized the United States as an independent nation.