text assets/images/thmbs/intro.gif The Rise of the Party Paper

During the American Revolution, newspapers quickly solidified their place in American society. After the establishment of the new federal government under the Constitution, newspapers continued to carry political conversations of the day.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, newspapers started to take an increasing role in determining the course of politics. After Thomas Jefferson's victory in the 1800 presidential election, which is often credited to his supporters in the media, politicians began to rely on organs, or quasi-official papers supporting their causes. Editors embraced their new influence. Almost without exception, papers

]]> identified with a particular party, and they formed the basic structure of the parties before permanent party organizations developed in the 1850s. Meanwhile, the number of newspapers in the state began to increase in 1820. By the 1828 election, presses were operating in most regions of the state.

The 1824 & 1828 Elections

Just as newspapers embraced the task of dominating the course of political conversation, the 1824 presidential election ended in confusion. Popular war hero Andrew Jackson gained a majority in the popular vote but not in the Electoral College. Jackson spent the next four years accusing the eventual winner, John Q. Adams, of corruption. The 1828 campaign

]]> became one of the most bitter in American history. Jackson's wife, Rachel, was hit especially hard by accusations in the press about their marriage, and she died soon after the election. A Baltimore editor remarked that "if the hundredth part of accusations against public characters is true, they should all be in jail."

Editors in Politics

As editors worked towards political ends, some entered political office themselves. Joseph Gales, editor of the Raleigh Register, served as the mayor of Raleigh 1819-1833. When Jackson won the 1828 election, he appointed 60 former newspaper editors to office.

Click on the thumbnails above to view the materials for this section.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1827-fayo-0405.gif The Carolina Observer began publication in 1816. In 1828, it was the biggest paper in the major trading hub of Fayetteville, which served as the primary market for the North Carolina piedmont.

Its location helped spread the shock created by the publication of this letter, which put a new spin on the old "corrupt bargain" charges from the previous election. It kicked off a new round of controversy revolving around Henry Clay, who had been appointed Secretary of State after John Quincy Adams won the 1824 election in the House. Clay's supporters printed a pamphlet vindicating him after this letter was reprinted in newspapers across the nation.

]]> assets/images/1827-fayo-0405.gif full size (opens in new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Carolina Observer. 1827. April 5. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number FyOw2.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1827-western-0925.gif This is a September 25, 1827 article reprinted from a New York newspaper projecting the vote for Andrew Jackson a year and a month before the election.

The 1828 election was largely a continuation of the contested 1824 election in which Jackson had won the popular vote but not the Electoral College vote. The election went to the House of Representatives, where Speaker of the House Henry Clay, one of the candidates now out of the race, threw his support to John Quincy Adams. Adams won and named Clay Secretary of State, a de facto stepping stone to the presidency. Jackson decried the move as a "corrupt bargain" and began his 1828 campaign immediately.

]]> assets/images/1827-western-0925.gif full article (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Western Carolinian (Salisbury, NC). 1827. September 25. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number SaWC3.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-ralreg-0129.gif This is part of an exchange of letters printed in the Raleigh Register in January 1828. The first letter asked one of Jackson's former supporters to explain a story that Jackson had threatened a Senator with violence. The response, including this excerpt, detailed Jackson's remarks, which took place during a Senate investigation a decade earlier into Jackson's conduct in Florida.

One of the many accusations during the campaign was that Jackson was brutal and violent. This threat to attack a senator with whom he disagreed was one supporting argument used for this charge. More than half of this issue's first page is dedicated to proving the merit of this charge.

]]> assets/images/1828-ralreg-0129.gif entire page (opens in new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Raleigh Register. 1828. January 29. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number RaRRsw5.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-fayo-0522.gif At the beginning of 1828, the Carolina Observer retracted its opinions about Henry Clay and the "corrupt bargain." The editor, Edward J. Hale, announced that he believed that Clay had already determined to vote for Adams before he was chosen to become Secretary of State.

After that announcement, the paper maintained a more moderate editorial stance than most of its contemporaries. In this excerpt, reprinted from a Boston newspaper, the paper makes fun of both candidates and their supporters. Despite the obvious satirical tone to the rhymes, there is some truth to each of thems, although neither campaign was as simple as the couplets suggest.

]]> assets/images/1828-fayo-0522.gif full size (opens in new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Carolina Observer. 1828. March 20. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number FyOw3.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-handbill.gif This is a handbill printed and distributed by Jackson's opponents listing accusations, which they termed his "bloody deeds." The most prominent part of the handbill, the portion pictured here, details Jackson's execution of six militia men during the War of 1812.

Handbills and broadsides were political material printed on single sheets of paper for easy, fast distribution - the early nineteenth century equivalent of the sound bite. They could be tacked onto trees and read aloud in taverns. This particular accusation, the story of the six militia men, was one of the big scandals of the campaign and was constantly refuted by Jackson's supporters.

]]> assets/images/1828-handbill.jpg full-size (opens in new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. Binns, John. Some Account of some of the Bloody Deeds of General Jackson. Circa 1828, Philadelphia. General Negative Collection, North Carolina State Archives. Call Number N.57.11.2.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-western-0729.gif The Salisbury Western Carolinian printed this article, which was continued from a previous issue and yet still ran one entire page and a column of the next page. It is a direct response to the charge of misconduct levelled against Andrew Jackson for the six militiamen he ordered executed for mutiny and desertion during the War of 1812.

These are excerpts from the first two columns of the page, which was printed in a five-column format. The left argues that the executions were legal as they dealt with a mutiny, regardless of the confusion over the mens' terms of enlistment. The right side argues that they were necessary to maintain order in the Army.

]]> assets/images/1828-western-0729.gif entire article (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Western Carolinian (Salisbury, NC). 1828. July 29. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number SaWC3.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-fayo-0807.gif Unlike most other editors of the time, Carolina Observer editor Edward Hale was less than happy with the way the campaign had unfolded. The paper supported Jackson but, other than the controversy with Henry Clay and the "corrupt bargain," it mostly refrained from the mudslinging that dominated some papers.

In this excerpt, Hale responds to an Adams supporter, expressing regret that men in both parties were using "dishonorable means to carry their point." In a separate article, the paper also approves of local Adams supporters' rejection of the attempt to implicate Jackson in former Vice President Aaron Burr's conspiracy to set up a separate empire in the West.

]]> assets/images/1828-fayo-0807.jpg entire article (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Carolina Observer. 1828. August 7. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number FyOw3.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-spectator-0809.gif Very few newspapers in North Carolina opposed Andrew Jackson, and before the summer of 1828, none of them were in New Bern. The Newbern Spectator began publication in August 1828, and this editorial statement from its first issue seems to indicate that the "circumstances which have called it into existence" include local demand for an Adams paper.

In listing the paper's editorial policy, this excerpt attacks Jackson's stance on protective tariffs. Tariffs, which typically supported fledgling northern industries at the expense of southern farmers, were one of the few non-personal issues brought up in the campaign.

]]> assets/images/1828-spectator-0809.jpg entire editorial (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Newbern Spectator (New Bern, NC). 1828. August 9. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number NbSP1.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-tarboro-0912.gif Early American elections did not use ballots; instead, voters chose tickets of Electoral College electors based on which candidate they wanted for president. The ticket with the most votes would send its electors to Raleigh on the appointed day to vote.

By 1828, the role of the party newspaper was very clearly established and neutral or independent papers were almost completely unknown. The Tarboro Free Press was by no means neutral, as seen in its coverage of the rumors that Jackson's mother was a prostitute later on the same page, but even its decision to print the opposing ticket without derogatory comments was exceedingly rare.

]]> assets/images/1828-tarboro-0912.gif entire page (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. Free Press. (Tarboro, NC). 1828. August 29. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number TarFP&S-2.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-ralreg-1104.gif The Raleigh Register was one of the few North Carolina papers that supported incumbent John Quincy Adams against Andrew Jackson in the 1828 election; however, it was a very influential and well-established paper. Its editor, Joseph Gales, was a major influence in Raleigh, and his son was editor of a major Washington paper, the National Intelligencer.

After listing how both candidates had been portrayed by their friends and enemies, the Register urges voters to look past the "political falsehood" of the press. Given the strong support for Jackson in the state's press, the author was probably lamenting the "party slander" of the Jackson papers, not the entire press.

]]> assets/images/1828-ralreg-1104.jpg entire page (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Raleigh Register. 1828. November 4. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number RaRRsw5.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-ralreg-1107.gif This excerpt from the election day issue of the Raleigh Register implores its readers one last time to vote against Jackson. Jackson's standing as a war hero was both an asset and a liability for his campaign. Even as most Americans grudgingly realized the necessity of maintaining a standing army, the military was still viewed with a lot of suspicion.

The Register played on this suspicion, running a column from a Washington, D.C. paper that compares Jackson to Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, and Napoleon - initially popular military leaders who became dictators. Like these leaders, Jackson derived his support from "the common man," strengthening the accusation.

]]> assets/images/1828-ralreg-1107.jpg entire issue (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Raleigh Register. 1828. November 7. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number RaRRsw5.

]]> image assets/images/thmbs/1828-western-1111.gif These excerpts are from a single column, "Presidential Items," in the Salisbury Western Carolinian. (Red lines indicate where text has been removed for this image.)

Congress did not establish a single election day for national elections until 1845, so states held their elections on different days during the first two weeks of November. In 1828, North Carolina's November 13 election date was one of the latest, and papers printed returns from the earlier states as soon as they were available.

This column also discusses the reaction to the anti-Jackson "Coffin Handbill," pictured earlier in this section.

]]> assets/images/1828-western-1111.gif entire issue (new window)]]> This image is provided courtesy of the NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES and may be protected by copyright law, Title 17 US Code. The user must obtain the proper release forms prior to reproducing this material. The Western Carolinian Salisbury, NC). 1828. November 11. North Carolina Newspaper Project, State Library of North Carolina & North Carolina State Archives. Microfilm reel number SaWC3.

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