ABSTRACT
The capital city anxiously awaited news traveling north from the state of South Carolina, but an individual’s understanding of the crisis depended upon his or her source of information. Party newspapers chose their articles very carefully and printed precious little that did not square with party beliefs. As part of a network of papers that reprinted and thus spread the national news around the country, the Washington press held an important role in the nation’s communication system. Government patronage served as a method to both reward past loyalty and ensure future support. A group of delegates elected by the residents of South Carolina arrived in Charleston, on November 19 to discuss the nullification of the tariffs of 1828 and 1832. The press served less as a mouthpiece for party propaganda as previously asserted than a public forum for political debate aimed at resolving a crisis and reuniting the country.
