Printers and Press Freedom

This book seeks to challenge the view that the eighteenth century understanding of the meaning of freedom of the press and the First Amendment was a narrow or limited one. The author examines the relationship between theory that laid the groundwork for the press clause and the actions of legislatures and journalists who confronted the issues surrounding freedom of expression. Through exhaustive research in colonial periods, including the religious as well as the civil press, the author shows that the attitudes of colonial journalists, particularly regarding seditious libel, were much closer to current interpretations than has previously been understood. He contends that colonists were publishing and justifying aggressive journalism for decades before the Revolution and that by the time of the First Amendment, Americans had forged a general libertarian press ideology that was incompatible with seditious libel.