Newspaper Histories

This page gives a brief background of twelve most influential newspapers in 19th century United States.

Atlanta Consititution

The first edition of the Atlanta Constitution was published June 16, 1868, by Carey W. Styles. The paper's name was suggested by President Andrew Johnson as one "fitting for a Democratic newspaper seeking to fight for the restoration of constitutional government in the South."
In 1879, Henry Woodfin Grady purchased a fourth interest in the paper. Editorials during his reign were more liberal and advocated social, economic, and political reform in the South. It was responsible for "The New South" of salvation and reconcilation.
By 1899, the Constitution has a weekly circulation of 140,000 - at the time the largest in the United States.

Maturin Ballou issued the first edition of the Boston Daily Global on March 4, 1872.
Charles Taylor, the later managing editor, believed that the Globe "should help men, women and children to get some of the sunshine of life, to be better and happier because of the Globe" and this idea became known as the cornerstone of the paper.

The first issue of the Charleston Courier was published on January 10, 1803 by Loring Andrew of Hingham, Massachusetts.
In 1808, "The wreath as the rod" was adopted as the paper's motto.
In the year of 1863, although the war was still in progress, little war news was reported.
In 1873, the Charleston Courier was solde at auction and consolidated with the Charleston Daily News.

The Charleston Mercury, founded in 1822, espoused the free trade and states' rights odeials of the Democratic party. It was an advocate of seession and proslavery ideas.
The Mercury was credited with boosting morale in the South.

The first edition was published on May 5, 1831.
The philosophy of the paper was to "conduct on true democratic principles, and with such industry and judgement in the selection and arrangement of foreign and domestic news."
In accord with the Democratic Party, the paper supported the right of each state to allow or nor allow slavery within its borders.

Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper was launched December 15, 1855, and was the first newspaper to emphasize current news events with pictures and text.
After the Civil War the paper became a "scandal sheet."

Gleason's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion published out of Boston, Massachusetts by Frederick Gleason and edited by Maturin Ballou.
Gleason's covered mational and international news and contained woodcuts, stories, poems, marriage and death notices, serial stories and short book reviews of new publications.
Ballou's prided itself on being "The Cheapest Weekly Paper in the World", a one-year subscription sould for two dollars.

Harper's, a Republican-oriented newspaper, was established in 1857 and published in New York City.
During the Civil War, Thomas Nast, the artist and political cartoonist, was described as "the best recruiting sergeant" by the President Lincoln.
Notable sketches in the paper forcused on the Civil War era, including: Condemnation of guerrilla warfare in the border states; the January 24, 1863 drawing of Emancipation depicting Black life past and present and etc.

George Jones, Henry Raymond, and Edward Wesley started The New York Daily Times on September 18, 1851.
The New York Times was considered a well-balanced, well edited newspaper. The Times begain as a Whig paper then turned Free-Soilersm and then to Republican.
Initially, The Times opposed Lincoln for the Republican presential nomination. After his nomination, however, the paper gave Lincoln its full support.
The paper advocated conciliation when the secession arose.

Thomas Ritchie published the first issue of the Enquirer in 1804.
Ritchie was proslavery when slavery became a North-South issue. In the 1850s, the paper chastise northern opponents of slavery and southern advocates of seperation.
The Enquirer was considered a national newspaper rather than a regional newspaper.

Richmond Whig was founded bt John Pleasants in 1824, the political rivals with the Enquirer in Virginia.

Note: The information on this page are summarized from the cited book.

Citation: Gale Research Staff, African American History in the Press 1851-1899, Detroit: Gale Research, 1996.