Thomas Paine, the Partisan Press, and “The Dark Ages of American Journalism”

“Thomas Paine, The Partisan Press, and ‘The Dark Ages of American Journalism’” explains the role of the press in popularizing ideas articulated in the founding documents of the nation. It begins with a profile of Thomas Paine, a description of his famous works Common Sense and The American Crisis, and the context in which he wrote. It then delves into the partisan arrangements following the Revolution, which historians have called “the Dark Ages of American Journalism,” and describes how partisanship had a stifling effect on expression, especially under the Alien and Sedition Acts. Using materials from this chapter, students should be able to describe how the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness came to be cornerstones of the American experience, citing Paine’s work. They should also see how enduring political tensions and press partisanship had their antecedents in the debates that raged following the Revolution, and they should be able to analyze the implementation of the Alien and Sedition Acts as a problematic moment in press history. Key words, names, and phrases associated with Chapter 2 include: Thomas Paine, Common Sense, American Crisis; Federalists (Alexander Hamilton), John Fenno, the Gazette of the United States; Republicans (Anti-Federalists), Thomas Jefferson, Philip Freneau, the National Gazette; and The Alien and Sedition Acts, John Adams, the Dark Ages of American Journalism.