The Press, Post Office, and Flow of News in the Early Republic

Abstract

Shortly after the ratification of the Constitution, Congress took two steps that underscored the importance of disseminating information in the early republic proposing the First Amendment with its free press clause and conferring a variety of postal privileges on newspapers.* While the former promised that the federal government would not restrict press freedoms, the latter committed the nation's resources to forge, through a joint venture with private publishers, a system of mass communication indispensable for a growing nation. For the first quarter of a century under the Constitution, the commitment to promote the circulation of news through the mails stood virtually unchallenged. Even contending political factions generally supported the policy of preferential rates for newspapers. Both Federalists and Republicans believed that the same policy low newspaper postage advanced their political goals. Federalists assumed that the widespread circulation of news and political discourse buttressed a strong central government by fostering nationalism and promoting party cohesion. Federalists recognized, too, that their partisans occupied most postmasterships and their newspapers had the wherewithal to make aggressive use of the mails. At the same time, Republicans hoped that their party papers carried inexpensively through the mails would inform constituents of Federalist abuses.