page_title: History of American journalism
section_title: First Party System
hierarchical_section_title: History of American journalism / First Party System
caption_attribution_description: Federalist poster about 1800. Washington (in heaven)[¿?] tells partisans to keep the pillars of Federalism, Republicanism and Democracy. Another source: A 1795 [¿? Washington died in 1799] cartoon depicting Washington warning party men to let all three pillars of Federalism, Republicanism, and Democracy stand to hold up Peace and Plenty, Liberty and Independence. At the left a Democrat says "This Pillar shall not stand I am determin'd to support a just and necessary War” and at the right a Federalists claims, "This Pillar must come down I am a friend of Peace".
context_page_description: Journalism in America began as a "humble" affair and became a political force in the campaign for American independence. Following independence, the first amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteed freedom of the press and speech and the American press grew rapidly following the American Revolution. The press became a key support element to the country's political parties but also organized religious institutions.
  During the 19th century, newspapers began to expand and appear outside eastern U.S. cities. From the 1830s onward the penny press began to play a major role in American journalism and technological advancements such as the telegraph and faster printing presses in the 1840s helped expand the press of the nation as it experienced rapid economic and demographic growth.
  By 1900 major newspapers had become profitable powerhouses of advocacy, muckraking and sensationalism, along with serious, and objective news-gathering. In the early 20th century, before television, the average American read several newspapers per day.
context_section_description: Newspapers flourished in the new republic — by 1800, there were about 234 being published — and tended to be very partisan about the form of the new federal government, which was shaped by successive Federalist or Republican presidencies. Newspapers directed much abuse toward various politicians, and the eventual duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr was fueled by controversy in newspaper pages.
  By 1796, both parties sponsored national networks of weekly newspapers, which attacked each other vehemently.  The Federalist and Republican newspapers of the 1790s traded vicious barbs against their enemies.
  The most heated rhetoric came in debates over the French Revolution, especially the Jacobin Terror of 1793–94 when the guillotine was used daily.  Nationalism was a high priority, and the editors fostered an intellectual nationalism typified by the Federalist effort to stimulate a national literary culture through their clubs and publications in New York and Philadelphia, and Noah Webster's efforts to simplify and Americanize the language.
caption: Federalist poster about 1800. Washington (in heaven) tells partisans to keep the pillars of Federalism, Republicanism, and Democracy
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