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The
colonial newspapers were about four pages long, printed with worn
type. The pages themselves were about half the size of modern newspaper
pages. Headlines were printed in small type but usualy in all caps.
No more than 200 copies were printed in an hour, and editorials
(opinions) were mixed with news IN THE SAME STORIES. There was little
advertising and what there was was similar to the classified sections
of today. Newspapers were a luxury; in 1765 only 5% of families
bought them.
News from Europe was gathered by ships crossing the Atlantic. The
trip took between 4 and 8 weeks, and the news wasn't published in
America until about two months after its London publication. Some
of the news was brought by the captains, and some came in the form
of letters.
News categories were similar to those of today but there were some
differences:
- War and politics
- Local and intercolonial news
- Crime: piracy, fires, counterfeiting, robberies, etc.
- Maritime News
- Weather (there were no weather forecasts)
- Obituaries
- Religion
Sports fans will be disappointed to note that the sports section
was then nonexistent and sports were mentioned little.
During the Revolutionary War, newspapers changed. In 1765, the
Stamp Act was passed. All legal documents, official papers, books,
and newspapers were taxed. Many newspapers published themselves
as handbills to avoid taxing their customers, and some were temporarily
shut down. The act was repealed in 1766. These revolutionary papers
had larger pages with more columns and illustrations. News arrived
by officers mailing home and by newspapers that received news first.
The first ever war correspondent was James Bradford, who enlisted
in Andrew Jackson's army in New Orleans. The news of his victory
didn't reach New York until a month afer it happened!
In the early 1800s, Newspapers were still only four pages but had
been enlarged to 6-7 wide columns. The first pages was 3/4 advertising
and the rest was political essay. The second page contained foreign
and domestic news as well as letters to the editor. The third page
housed the editorial column, local news, and more advertising. Page
four was completely filled by advertising.
Headlines became more exciting: "Almost Incredible Victory!" read
the papers at the news of the British defeat in New Orleans. "Glorius
Triumph" in double columns.
The American National Anthem, the Star-Spangled Banner, was published
only a few hours after its composition by Francis Scott key, in
a Baltimore paper.
During the industrial revolution, mechanical improvements made
printing methods and quantity cheaper to produce. The population
grew and the number of newspapers increased along with it. There
were three times as many newspapers in the USA by 1833 than in England
or France. 45000 BCE to 1605 CE | 1621 to 1807 | 1814 to 1838 | 1839 to 1858 | 1860 to 1877 | 1878 to 1891 | 1893 to 1920 | 1920 to 1937 | 1930 to 1965 | 1965 to 1996
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