In 1763, Georgia realized it needed a printer and a newspaper. Therefore, on April 7, 1763, the Georgia Gazette made its first appearance, being the first newspaper published in Georgia.1 In Athens, Georgia, the first newspaper would not appear until 1807, a year after the town was incorporated and the first university structure completed.2 Newspapers began a new outlook for Georgia, especially Athens, by spreading news, selling ads and items, and most of all, by aligning political parties. In this paper, dating from 1800 to 1860, I will begin with a history of the newspaper in Athens, Georgia. I will then discuss the issue of literacy and illiteracy and how these issues affected the importance of the newspaper. Next, I will move into a broad view of newspapers nationwide, and use this to incorporate Athens in with the national trend. I will conclude with the thought of Athens being either representative or atypical of national newspapers.
Athens and Clarke County were once relatively small in population, including some frontier areas. This small population proved that local publications would be a struggle without sufficient subscribers and advertisers. Word of mouth was the most important way of communicating before the newspaper came along and seemed to work just fine. Athens also relied on other papers such as the Augusta Chronicle and Washington Monitor to supply the news. This reliance would not last long. Athens would soon begin to grow rapidly.
3Athens received its first newspaper in 1807. A Presbyterian divine, Reverend John Hodge, rolled into Athens in a wagon carrying a press and type from Philadelphia.4 This first newspaper was designed to carry religious and literary news. Needless to say, it did not stay around long. Hodge was forced to sell the newspaper to Alexander McDonnell, a printer, who was joined by Elias Harris. These two decided to change the journal to a weekly newspaper, the Georgia Express, which would debut its first issue March 14, 1808. The subscription rate for this weekly publishing was three dollars a year. Advertisements were also sold at 52.5 cents a square for one insertion and 50 cents for each additional reprinting. The Georgia Express, was still doing well by December of that year with plans for improvement being discussed. In July 1809, the Georgia Express would expand and change its name to Foreign Correspondent and Georgia Express. With the name change, more foreign news would be printed along with more impartial political comment. Early newspapers relied heavily upon contributors and exchange items from other publications to fill its news columns. This was typical of nineteenth-century newspapers, which would use literary and political comment by anonymous contributors. This would also include omitting most local news. Many believed that by the time the local news was printed in the newspaper, readers would have already heard it by word of mouth.
5During this time, getting newspapers out on time was a major accomplishment. Newsprint was hard to come by and advertisers and subscribers did not always pay their bills on time. When this happened, the editor would use the newspaper to urge those late with their bills to pay up. The early newspapers would sometimes just have to make-do with what they had in paper and newsprint. When the mail was slow, this would also hinder the editor in publishing the latest foreign news.
6Elias Harris eventually left the newspaper and in 1811, was partially replaced by Xenophon Gaines. Gaines was feeble but had a very sharp mind. Gaines would stay only two years, but did have an impact on the paper, making it more readable. After Gaines’ departure, McDonnell announced that he would go on alone, using articles from the university. Advertisements would still be run in the paper.
7McDonnell would continue to run the paper alone through five more volumes. During this time the Foreign Correspondent was dropped from the name of the paper, however, it still carried more foreign news than local. McDonnell soon announced plans to enter a new publishing arrangement with the Reverend John Hodge. This new paper would be called the Athens Gazette. They planned to devote two or three columns to scientific, moral, and religious instruction. The first issue of the Athens Gazette appeared February 17, 1814, when it was announced that they newspaper would be published on Thursdays immediately after the mail arrived. This new paper began to experience problems before it even started. When the economy began to have problems, the editors decided instead of taking money for subscriptions, they would take good wheat. Also, they had problems with their ink quality, which did not make readers happy. The ink would be improved, but the Athens Gazette would continue to have financial problems.
8The one and only newspaper would continue to have many problems over the next years. McDonnell left the paper in 1815, Hodge would continue on but would eventually be replaced by Samuel Wright Minor. The newspaper did everything but completely fold under Minor.
9The Athens newspaper would flourish again in 1827 when Oliver P. Shaw introduced the newspaper, the Athenian. This paper became one of the better literary papers in the state. The Athenian included articles from contributors and also writings from the editor.
10Albert Chase would join Shaw in the management of the Athenian. Chase would also join with A. M. Nisbet to buy the paper and change its name to the Southern Banner. The first issue of this paper was March 20, 1832. The Banner-Herald, which is still around today is the descendent of the Southern Banner. The Southern Banner opposed nullification and supported the Union Party. It was devoted to the rights’ of the union and the states11. The Southern Banner was instrumental in creating and leading public opinion in favor of Georgia’s entering the Confederacy. 12 Chase would continue to run the business on his own when Nisbet left the Southern Banner in 1836.
13In 1835, a new newspaper, The Southern Whig, was formed in Athens to give voice to people who did not have the same political persuasion as the editors of the Southern Banner. A highly known editor, Benjamin Poore, became editor of the Southern Whig in 1839 and remained for a few years. Reportedly, Poore was asked to leave Athens because of his abolitionist tendencies.
14During the 1840’s, both the Southern Banner and the Southern Whig vied for support in Athens and Clarke County. Both newspapers had ambitious editors, kept up the political debate, and looked for ways to solve the problems newspapers faced in that day. Both had to put up with changing mail schedules, old bills that needed to be paid, and various mechanical printing difficulties. In 1843, the Southern Banner decided to go on a cash only basis. It would also move to a bigger building across from the college campus where Albon Chase could have the bookstore downstairs and his printing department upstairs.
15After working for fourteen and a half years and more than ten years as sole editor, Chase decided to retire in September 1846. He sold the Southern Banner to Hopkins Holsey, a strong Democrat and former congressman. The Banner and the Whig would begin to face strong opposition, therefore, Holsey announced that the Banner would be enlarged and would be as big as any newspaper in the state, except for the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel. Holsey stated that the newspaper would be devoted to politics, news, literature, agriculture, the arts, and assorted matters. In January 1851, the Banner would move offices again to Granite Row. By the spring of 1851, Holsey would be one of the best known and sometimes most disliked editors in the state.
16Holsey would continue being editor until May 1853, when he would announce that after seven years he could not afford to lose money any longer. Holsey would be replaced by James Sledge, a Union Democrat of the Jackson school. Dr. A.A.F. Hill would join Sledge in 1855 with half interest in the paper. Hill would become the junior editor and one of Athens’s most interesting and energetic personalities. Hill would resign from the paper in 1857, being replaced by Anderson W. Reese as assistant editor. Reese would retire one year later, former editor Albon Chase’s son, William M. Chase would purchase an interest and become co-editor. In June of 1855, the paper would begin to use new type and was lengthened and widened to eight columns in 1860.
17The Southern Whig would be under Doctor Flint, Phillip Clayton, T.M. Lampkin, John Christy, and others. These men would serve as opposition to the Southern Banner in the 1840’s. In 1847, under Lampkin and Christy, the Southern Whig would be enlarged and would be one of the most handsome sheets in Georgia. After the Whig party’s demise in 1850, the Southern Whig would cease publication. However, the Southern Herald would replace it. The Herald would last until 1853. In 1854, the Southern Watchman would be formed. The Watchman would operate throughout the rest of the antebellum period by Christy, who offered the paper at a special rate. This was a success and in 1855, the Watchman would claim the largest circulation ever by a newspaper in Athens.
18The national economic panic of 1857 would affect both newspapers. The Watchman offered to take payments in corn, wheat, rye, oats, meal, flour, chickens, turkeys, geese, or anything else saleable in the market. Even with the effects of the panic the Watchman would change designs in 1858 and 1860.
19In 1840, a campaign newspaper was also formed in Athens, called the Athens Harrisonian. However, the competition was still between the Southern Banner, and the Whig, Herald, or Watchman.
20Literacy was a very important issue between 1800 and 1860. As mentioned earlier, word of mouth was the fastest way to relay news, but what about the coming along of the newspaper? The newspaper would eventually make some progress in raising the literacy rate.
At this time, whites were the only people allowed to receive an education, however, this education was limited. Blacks were forbidden by law to acquire education, and positive efforts to educate the scattered white masses on the land were unsuccessful enough to leave approximately twenty percent of the adult whites illiterate as late as 1850.21 Georgia would continue to make some efforts to improve education.
In 1822, $500, 000 was added to the poor school fund. This fund was designed to give every white child some education, if only for a short period of time. This money would eventually be invested in bank stock, and its limited income would be equally divided between the private field schools and academies of the middle and upper class. This would be no help to the public poor schools. Some cities and counties would establish their own free school systems, but many lower class children in the poorer rural areas received little or no formal education. An attempt in the late 1830’s to establish a true public school system would be frustrated by conservative opposition and economic depression.
22Knowing this, it is easy to see why the newspaper would be a problem for some unfortunate enough not to receive a basic education. It is interesting to wonder how these uneducated peoples would ever know about the political parties and debates surrounding them.
The newspaper might have helped push literacy a small fraction. It would give townspeople a nice read to enjoy weekly or monthly, depending on the paper, and push people along in the way of wanting to learn to read the newspaper. Family members who were literate could also have used the newspaper as a teaching tool to educate the illiterate from the comforts of their homes.
Beginning in 1800, at the turn of the century, American journalism would see changes. Big cities would flourish and populations would rise, thus increasing the popularity of the newspaper. A new territory purchased by the United States would begin westward expansion of the newspaper, as will be explained later.
23The total number of newspapers printed would increase drastically. This gave the United States a larger number of newspapers and a larger aggregate circulation of them than any other country could boast, therefore, foreign visitors were impressed by political activities of the newspapers. The newspapers of this century emphasized politics so much so that even the mercantile papers, which stressed commercial news rather than politics, even took sides in partisan controversy.
24The time period of 1801-1833 was disgraceful, a kind of “Dark Ages” of American journalism. Fights and duals would break out over issues in the newspapers, some involving the President. Few papers had a good outlook on political issues. Newspapers reflected the crassness of the American society of the times. Scurrility, assaults, corruption, and blatancy were commonplace.
25One of the first important papers in the new capital was the National Intelligencer. For the first quarter of the century, all papers based their news of the government on the reports from this paper.
26However important Washington was, New York would still beat it out in population and the number of newspapers published. By 1833, New York’s population was equal to that of Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore combined. During this period, a half dozen or more daily papers were being published, and as many weeklies and semiweeklies.
27The New York Evening Post would send out its first issue November 16, 1801. The Post’s mercantile news was as good as that furnished by the more strictly commercial papers. Its reviews of books and plays were well done, and it had some literary distinction.
28Newspapers would continue to move west during this time period. However, this would not be possible if it was not for postal routes. These routes were not perfect though. Western newspapers were always complaining about their mail never arriving on time or anywhere near a regular schedule. Sailing ships, taking at least five or six weeks to cross the Atlantic, would bring in the foreign news and foreign papers. From the beginnings of the American newspaper, news from overseas had been more important than home news in the country’s papers. This dominance of foreign news would come to an end during the second war with England. The running story of that war, with its alternating defeats and victories, brought home to editors and readers the importance of domestic news.
29Politics were still very important for the nation’s newspapers. Politics were paramount in most newspapers; they dominated the news, furnished the subject matter of the essays and letters to the editor, and pointed the editorial paragraphs.
30The make-up of the newspapers was very typical. The paper would fill three fourths of its first page with advertising, using the remainder for literary miscellany or a political essay. It would give page two to foreign and domestic news, with a political speech or letter to the editor, place the editorial column and local items on page three with more advertising and miscellany and then devote the last page wholly to advertising.
31Between 1833-1860, penny dailies would flourish in town such as New York, where at least a dozen were founded. These penny papers would enlarge America’s newspaper-reading public tremendously.
32Also during this time, newspapers began to question what news is, therefore, newspapers would take a shift in what they would publish. There were three main ideas in this shift - all of them moving away from the old ideas of “important” news:
(1) an increase of local or home-city news;33
(2) a much greater emphasis on sensational news, especially that of crime and sex;
(3) the appearance of what was later called “human-interest” news - stories of persons who are interesting merely as human beings, and not for their connection with either significant or sensational news.
The penny press may have been a success, the fact remains that up to the time of the Civil War it was not the independent penny press but the partisan political press that dominated American journalism. Politicians would arrange their newspaper affiliations with care, and considered them essential to success. The chief and sometimes only Democratic paper in New York was the Evening Post. The leading Whig paper was the National Intelligencer, located in Washington.
34During 1833-1860, journalism would continue to spread even farther westward with the progress of the railroads and telegraph. Papers began in Kansas, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and as far a California in 1846. Wherever a town sprang up, a printer would not be far behind. These pioneer towns would secure newspapers for both promotional and political reasons.
35Headlines would be brought in to newspapers from the Mexican war and gold rush news. Some earlier headlines were at least one head of six single-line decks in each issue. These were only one column wide and only occupied two or three inches of space. The late fifties would extend them extended vertically for big stories where they might occupy nearly half a column. Also during this time the sizes of newspapers, editorial pages, news stories, and advertising would flourish.
36Increases in American readership in the middle of the century caused the number of newspapers to nearly triple. They would spread very thick over the settled parts of the country and appear on the outposts of the frontier. Circulations would grow to unheard of figures.
37I believe Athens would be more representative to national newspapers than atypical. Athens developed newspapers on a normal level, and as they could economically and physically. Of course, national papers would have a great influence on Athens papers, just like a child to an adult. You see what other papers are doing, and you want to follow in their footsteps.
Athens could set its own trends also. Political papers seemed to do well for Athens, so they stuck with it. Even when Athens did try to publish different magazines and journals, they did not make it like good old political newspapers. Political newspapers were very popular everywhere across America. Politics is a topic that everyone is familiar with and can relate to easily. If you liked a certain party, you chose to read that party’s newspaper. It was formatted to fit an individual person’s likes and wants from a newspaper.
As demonstrated in both of my descriptions of early papers in Athens and America, they experienced some of the same problems. Population greatly affected the newspaper’s success in a town. Larger towns had more money and more people to experiment with different news transmissions and continuing printing even when they were hurting financially. Mail would also have a big impact on local and national newspapers. They each relied on mail to bring their news content. If the mail was late, it hurt the paper. Foreign news was very important to newspapers everywhere. This news had to come from even farther, which sometimes caused problems. Up until the second war with England, foreign news was very important and was the majority of the newspaper.
Newspaper content and layout were basically the same for Athens and America. Some papers may have shifted articles and entries around some, but all still included the same content. As I have explained earlier, this content would change over time, but Athens would flow right along with it nationally.
Athens has been called a graveyard of newspapers. The only reason for this is because so many papers were attempted. Some papers had great success and others did not. Every paper that was started in Athens, whether popular or not, had an impact. Athens newspapers did a credible job informing the people about important issues, considering problems with mail, mechanical difficulties, and persons not wanting to pay for their advertisements and subscriptions. Few southern cities and towns could boast of as much success as Athens enjoyed.
38The same can be said for the nation’s newspapers. Even with problems such as the ones Athens experienced, newspapers continued to prosper and transmit the news very well.