June 8

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

Who was the subject of an advertisement in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Freeman’s Journal (June 8, 1776).

“A likely healthy NEGRO MAN … Enquire of the printer. 3 5”

Benjamin Dearborn published the third issue of the Freeman’s Journal on June 8, 1776.  Among the various advertisements that appeared in that issue, one announced, “TO BE SOLD, (for want of employ) A likely healthy NEGRO MAN, aged about twenty five, and understands farming business well.”  For interested parties who wanted to know more, the notice instructed them to “Enquire of the printer” at his printing office in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  The previous issue of the Freeman’s Journal featured an advertisement in which Samuel Hall described Seneca, an enslaved man who liberated himself by running away from his enslaver on May 29, and offered a reward for his capture and return.  In the course of the first three issues, Dearborn went from proclaiming “the most sacred rights of a free people” in an address to readers to encouraging the surveillance of Black men in a notice placed for the purpose of capturing a fugitive from slavery to actively participating in the slave trade as a broker and proxy for an anonymous advertiser.

Notations in both advertisements suggests that each met with success.  Hall’s advertisement concerning Seneca concluded with “2–4,” a notation intended for the compositor who set type rather than for readers.  It indicated that Hall’s advertisement should appear in issue “No. 2” through issue “No. 4.”  However, Hall’s advertisement did not run in any subsequent issue, suggesting that Seneca had been captured and returned and, in turn, the notice withdrawn.  The anonymous “enquire of the printer” advertisement concluded with a similar notation, “3 5.”  It first appeared in issue “No. 3” and should have appeared in the next two issues as well.  It did not run the following week, but a note from the printer promised that “Advertisements &c. omitted, will be in our next.”  The advertisement did indeed appear in issue “No. 5” the following week, with the notation revised to “3 6” to allow for the week it did not run.  That meant that it should have appeared in the third (June 8), fifth (June 22) and sixth (June 29) issues of the Freeman’s Journal.  The advertisement did not run again, suggesting that someone had indeed enquired of the printer and completed the transaction.  Dearborn commenced advertising the “Books so much admired, entitled COMMON SENSE,” the most influential political pamphlet advocating for the colonies to declare independence, on June 22, the last issue that carried the advertisement offering the enslaved man for sale.  Dearborn deployed the power of the press to promote the liberty of some Americans while restricting the liberty of others.

Slavery Advertisements Published June 8, 1776

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonizers encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonizers who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in revolutionary American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Providence Gazette (June 8, 1776).

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Freeman’s Journal (June 8, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (June 8, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (June 8, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (June 8, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (June 8, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (June 8, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Dixon and Hunter] (June 8, 1776).

June 7

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Connecticut Gazette (June 7, 1776).

“A distracted Man!”

Peter Spencer sought the public’s assistance in locating his son Abner.  He placed an advertisement in the June 7, 1776, edition of the Connecticut Gazette because Abner “absented himself from his father’s house” in East Haddam “about 8 weeks ago.”  This does not seem to have been a case of any sort of discord that resulted in a rebellious son running away from the obedience demanded by his father.  Instead, the headline described Abner as “A distracted Man,” suggesting that he had cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities.  Somehow, Abner had “absented himself” from the care of his father’s household.

Spencer published an alert, just as Elizabeth Fales of Walpole, Massachusetts, had done in the summer of 1774 when Jonathan Fales, a “Non Compos Mentis” man, “did … leave his House and Family … and has not been Home since.”  Fales offered a reward to anyone “so kind to a distress’d Woman as to bring him home (without abusing him) or give Information that he may be found.”  Similarly, Spencer promised a “good and just reward” to “any person who may find this my son, either to confine him and send me word, or bring him home to me.”  To help identify Abner, his father described him as “about 25 years old, middling stature,” and wearing a “dark brown coat, blue jacket, a pair of blue & white streaked woollen trowsers, and a check’d linnen cap.”

Spencer’s advertisement about Abner happened to appear immediately below James Rogers’s notice offering a reward for the capture and return of a “Mustee Fellow named SY,” also “about 25 Years of Age,” who had liberated himself by running away from his enslaver in March.  Rogers provided a lengthy description of Sy, even noting that he took a fiddle with him, and warned that “Masters of Vessels are forbid to carry off said Slave.”  These notices that ran one after the other both concerned missing persons, yet the advertisers who placed them had very different purposes in doing so.  Rogers aimed to use the power of the press to return a young man to slavery, while Spencer treated his advertisement as a means of disseminating news that was exceptionally important to a household responsible for providing care for a son who needed their support.  One young man would benefit if the advertisement was successful, while the other certainly would not.

Slavery Advertisements Published June 7, 1776

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonizers encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonizers who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in revolutionary American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Connecticut Gazette (June 7, 1776).

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Connecticut Gazette (June 7, 1776).

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Virginia Gazette [Purdie] (June 7, 1776).

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Supplement to the Virginia Gazette [Purdie] (June 7, 1776).

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Supplement to the Virginia Gazette [Purdie] (June 7, 1776).

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Supplement to the Virginia Gazette [Purdie] (June 7, 1776).

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Supplement to the Virginia Gazette [Purdie] (June 7, 1776).

Advertisements for Common Sense Published June 7, 1776

Carl Robert Keyes Special Features

Historians consider Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published anonymously on January 9, 1776, the most influential political pamphlet that circulated in the colonies during the era of the American Revolution.  Written in plain language accessible to readers of all backgrounds, the pamphlet made a bold case for declaring independence at a time that many colonizers still sought a redress their grievances by George III and Parliament.  Paine’s pamphlet played a vital role in swaying public opinion in favor of declaring independence.

Common Sense was an eighteenth-century bestseller, though Paine wildly overestimated how many copies were published, claiming 150,000 circulated in 1776, and historians later made even more dubious claims that American printing presses produced as many as 500,000 copies.  Contrary to those exaggerations, American printers most likely published between 35,000 and 50,000 copies in 1776.  Scholars have identified twenty-five American editions, more than twice as many as any other American book or pamphlet published in the eighteenth century.

Colonizers certainly discussed Paine’s pamphlet … and printers, booksellers, and others advertised it widely.  As a special feature, the Adverts 250 Project chronicles those advertisements, starting with newspaper notices for Robert Bell’s first edition published in Philadelphia and then subsequent advertisements for that and other editions published and sold throughout the colonies.

These advertisements for Common Sense appeared in American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Essex Journal (June 7, 1776).

June 6

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

New-England Chronicle (June 6, 1776).

“After this week, the NEW-ENGLAND CHRONICLE will be published by Messrs. EDWARD EVELETH POWARS and NATHANIEL WILLIS.”

It was the last issue of the New-England Chronicle printed by Samuel Hall, but it would not be the last issue of that newspaper.  Instead, Hall “resigned the Publication of the NEW-ENGLAND CHRONICLE” to Edward E. Powars and Nathan Willis.  The former publisher and the new publishers informed subscribers and other readers what to expect in advertisements that appeared one after the other in the June 6, 1776, edition.

Hall went first, expressing his appreciation and “Thanks to all who have favoured him with their custom, and thereby enabled him to continue the Publication of his Paper till this time.”  Hall and his newspaper had undertaken an interesting journey over the past year and more.  In the spring of 1775, Hall and his brother, Ebenezer, were publishing the Essex Gazette in Salem.  After the battles at Lexington and Concord on April 19, all the newspapers in Boston folded, suspended publication, or moved to other towns.  The Halls published the last issue of the Essex Gazette in Salem on May 2, 1775, just a couple of weeks after the war began.  With the siege of Boston underway, the Halls moved to Cambridge, putting them and their newspaper in closer proximity to the army and the provincial congress.  The continued publishing their newspaper without a change in numbering but with a new name, the New-England Chronicle, on May 12.  Following Ebenezer’s death on February 14, 1776, Samuel continued as the sole printer.  The siege of Boston concluded when British forces departed on March 17.  Hall published the last issue of the New-England Chronicle in Cambridge on April 4.  He then moved into Boston and printed the first issue of the New-England Chronicle in that city on April 25.  Loyal customers had indeed “enabled him to continue the Publication of his Paper till this time” when he transferred it to Powars and Willis.

Although Hall no longer printed a newspaper, he continued running a printing office “next to the OLIVER CROMWELL Tavern, in SCHOOL-STREET,” in Boston.  In their advertisement, Powars and Willis announced that they would publish the New-England Chronicle “at the Printing Office lately occupied by Messieurs Green and Russell, in Queen Street.” They solicited subscriptions, advertisements, and “Articles of Intelligence” for publication.  The new proprietors of the newspaper listed the subscription price, eight shillings per year, but not the price for advertisements.  Instead, they promised that notices “will be inserted in a conspicuous manner,” making them worth the investment, “at the customary prices.”  Powars and Willis hoped that subscribers would continue with the New-England Chronicle now that they published it.

Slavery Advertisements Published June 6, 1776

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonizers encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonizers who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in revolutionary American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Maryland Gazette (June 6, 1776).

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Maryland Gazette (June 6, 1776).

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Maryland Gazette (June 6, 1776).

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New-York Journal (June 6, 1776).

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New-York Journal (June 6, 1776).

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New-York Journal (June 6, 1776).

Advertisements for Common Sense Published June 6, 1776

Carl Robert Keyes Special Features

Historians consider Thomas Paine’s Common Sense, published anonymously on January 9, 1776, the most influential political pamphlet that circulated in the colonies during the era of the American Revolution.  Written in plain language accessible to readers of all backgrounds, the pamphlet made a bold case for declaring independence at a time that many colonizers still sought a redress their grievances by George III and Parliament.  Paine’s pamphlet played a vital role in swaying public opinion in favor of declaring independence.

Common Sense was an eighteenth-century bestseller, though Paine wildly overestimated how many copies were published, claiming 150,000 circulated in 1776, and historians later made even more dubious claims that American printing presses produced as many as 500,000 copies.  Contrary to those exaggerations, American printers most likely published between 35,000 and 50,000 copies in 1776.  Scholars have identified twenty-five American editions, more than twice as many as any other American book or pamphlet published in the eighteenth century.

Colonizers certainly discussed Paine’s pamphlet … and printers, booksellers, and others advertised it widely.  As a special feature, the Adverts 250 Project chronicles those advertisements, starting with newspaper notices for Robert Bell’s first edition published in Philadelphia and then subsequent advertisements for that and other editions published and sold throughout the colonies.

These advertisements for Common Sense appeared in American newspapers 250 years ago today.

New-England Chronicle (June 6, 1776).

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New York Packet (June 6, 1776).

June 5

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?

Pennsylvania Gazette (June 5, 1776).

“A NEW SYSTEM OF MILITARY DISCIPLINE.”

Robert Aitken’s advertisement for “A NEW SYSTEM OF MILITARY DISCIPLINE, FOUNDED UPON PRINCIPLE,” filled half a column on the first page of the June 5, 1776, edition of the Pennsylvania Gazette.  It featured an introduction to the work, an overview of the contents, and an address “To the PUBLIC.”  It was the newest military manual among the proliferation of such works published in the colonies, especially in Philadelphia, in 1775 and 1776.

In the introduction, Aitken, a printer and bookseller, announced the publication and sale of the book, giving the title and listing the author as “A GENERAL OFFICER.”  That matched the title page, though historians have identified Richard Lambart, the Earl of Cavan, as the author.  Aitken promoted some of the material aspects of the manual: “Printed with a new type, on a good paper, in one octavo volume.”  His advertisement reiterated the price printed on the title page: “Price in boards One Dollar, bound Ten Shillings.”

Many newspaper advertisements for books reproduced lengthy subtitles or a list of contents that appeared on the title page.  This manual, however, had a separate table of contents on the final page.  Aitken reformatted that table of contents into a paragraph about each chapter.  He aimed to demonstrate to prospective buyers the various subjects covered, perhaps hoping that seeing the topics associated with the “duty of the Corporal,” “the “Duty of the Serjeant,” and the “Duty and instructions of the Adjutant” would entice “young officers” with little practical experience.  In addition to those chapters, the manual included a chapter on dress, arms, and accoutrements and a chapter on the “exercise as it is to be performed by signal or word of command from the major or from any other officer.”

The address “To the PUBLIC” required a little more work on the part of the printer, though Aitken did not compose it by himself.  Instead, he went through the preface, selected key passages from the General Officer’s descriptions of the purpose of each chapter in the manual, and made minor revisions to string them together into a summary of what readers would encounter when they put the New System of Military Discipline to use.  Aitken did add a final paragraph that he apparently wrote as a final appeal to prospective customers: “This work is written upon a new plan, and is peculiarly adapted for the use of young officers, shewing the particular duties of each, and the most easy method of training their men in order to become expert soldiers.”

As the war continued, Aitken believed that a market existed for yet another military manual, though he did not consider that enough that merely announcing its publication would yield sales.  Instead, Aitken designed his advertisement to boost existing demand as colonizers prepared for an uncertain future.

Slavery Advertisements Published June 5, 1776

Carl Robert Keyes Slavery Adverts 250 Project

The Slavery Adverts 250 Project chronicles the role of newspaper advertising in perpetuating slavery in the era of the American Revolution. The project seeks to reveal the ubiquity of slavery in eighteenth-century life from New England to Georgia by republishing advertisements about enslaved people – for sale as individuals or in groups, wanted to purchase or for hire for short periods, runaways who liberated themselves, and those who were subsequently captured and confined in jails and workhouses – in daily digests on this site as well as in real time via the @SlaveAdverts250 Twitter feed, utilizing twenty-first-century media to stand in for the print media of the eighteenth century.

The project aims to provide modern audiences with a sense of just how often colonizers encountered these advertisements in their daily lives. Enslaved men, women, and children appeared in print somewhere in the colonies almost every single day. Those advertisements served as a constant backdrop for social, cultural, economic, and political life in colonial and revolutionary America. Colonizers who did not purport to own enslaved people were still confronted with slavery as well as invited to maintain the system by purchasing enslaved men, women, and children or assisting in the capture of so-called “runaways” who sought to free themselves from bondage. The frequency of these newspaper advertisements suggests just how embedded slavery was in colonial and revolutionary American culture in everyday interactions beyond the printed page.

These advertisements also testify to the experiences of enslaved men, women, and children, though readers must consider that those experiences have been remediated through descriptions offered by enslavers rather than enslaved people themselves. Often unnamed in the advertisements, enslaved men, women, and children were not invisible or unimportant in early America.

These advertisements appeared in revolutionary American newspapers 250 years ago today.

Pennsylvania Gazette (June 5, 1776).

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Pennsylvania Gazette (June 5, 1776).