ABSTRACT
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the words of the Declaration of Independence, his first and most important claim was that all Men are created equal, and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The role of the press in ventilating competing views on political matters in the late eighteenth century was evolving throughout the colonies—much of it centering on the subjects of political freedom, personal liberty, and citizen participation in political activities. The relationship of liberty and property was central to American politics. In the distribution of political power—that process of establishing "place" and "station"—a ruling class made up of "gentlemen" to be supported willingly by the "yeomanry" began with a widely shared sense of superiority over African Americans. The large planters could rent some of their land to the freemen, but their major income depended on the labor provided by enslaved African men and women.
