Address Upon Slave-Keeping

February 10

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Journal (February 10, 1773).

“TO BE SOLD, A NEGRO BOY.”

“Just published … an ADDRESS … upon SLAVE-KEEPING.”

When John Dunlap published An Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements in America, upon Slave-keeping in 1773, he advertised widely.  He promoted the pamphlet in his own newspaper, the Pennsylvania Packet, before taking it to press, hoping to incite interest and demand among prospective customers.  Before and after publication, he inserted advertisements in other newspapers as well.  For instance, he ran a brief advertisement in the February 10 edition of the Pennsylvania Journal.  Consisting of only four lines, it advised readers that the pamphlet was “Just published, and to be sold by JOHN DUNLAP.”

Printing a pamphlet that critiqued slavery did not prevent Dunlap from generating revenues from newspaper advertisements that perpetuated the slave trade.  On January 18, for instance, he ran a lengthy advertisement about the pamphlet, one that included an excerpt from the conclusion, and several notices offering enslaved people for sale or promising rewards for the capture and return of enslaved people who liberated themselves by running away from their enslavers.

Similarly, William Bradford and Thomas Bradford, printers of the Pennsylvania Journal, ran the advertisement for the pamphlet and advertisements about enslaved people.  Two advertisements in the February 10 edition, one for a “NEGRO woman eighteen years old, and six months gone with child” and another for a “NEGRO MAN, About 27 years old,” instructed prospective enslavers to “Enquire of the printers” for more information.  The Bradfords acted as slave brokers in addition to disseminating those advertisements.  Dunlap’s advertisement for the Address … upon Slave-keeping appeared immediately below an advertisement about a “NEGRO BOY, about 19 Years old,” for sale as part of the estate of Thomas Rogers.  Did the Bradfords recognize the dissonance inherent in the two advertisements?  Did a compositor exercise some editorial discretion in placing one advertisement after another, making a point to both the printers and readers?

Whatever the case, the Pennsylvania Journal gave much more space to perpetuating slavery on that day, made all the more noteworthy by the news item that filled the first two pages of that edition.  The Bradfords reprinted the response to Governor Thomas Hutchinson’s speech from a committee appointed by the Massachusetts assembly, a response that vigorously defended the liberties of English colonizers.  That response, first published by Isaiah Thomas as an extraordinary issue of the Massachusetts Spy, made its way from newspapers to newspaper, first in New England and then in other regions.  Each of those newspapers also ran advertisements that perpetuated slavery, demonstrating the limits of how many colonizers conceived of liberty.  The Address … upon Slave-Keeping presented a more expansive view.  Despite the excerpt that Dunlap published in his own newspaper, however, that pamphlet did not have such extensive coverage.

January 18

Carl Robert Keyes Daily Advert Update , , , ,

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

Pennsylvania Packet (January 18, 1773).

“AN ADDRESS TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE BRITISH SETTLEMENTS IN AMERICA, UPON SLAVE-KEEPING.”

In January 1773, John Dunlap, printer of the Pennsylvania Packet, announced that An Address to the Inhabitants of the British Settlements in America, upon Slave-Keeping, a work attributed to Benjamin Rush, was “Just published” and available for sale.  Dunlap leveraged his access to the press to give the announcement special prominence in his newspaper, treating it as an editorial rather than an advertisement.

Consider how Dunlap organized the contents of the January 18, 1773, edition of the Pennsylvania Packet and the supplement that accompanied it.  In the standard issue, news items and editorials appeared on the first two pages, followed by advertising on the last two pages.  Similarly, the two-page supplement began with two columns of news and the remainder of the content consisted of advertising.  Dunlap’s announcement masqueraded as an editorial that ran in the first column of the second page and overflowed into the next column, followed by news from London, Newport, New York, and Philadelphia.  The printer inserted an excerpt from the pamphlet, hoping to entice readers to want more and purchase their own copies.  In giving prospective customers an overview of the essay, Dunlap noted that the “Author of the above Address after having showed the inconsistency of Slave-keeping with the principles of humanity – justice – good policy and religion; concludes as follows.”  After reading that conclusion, prospective customers could acquire the pamphlet and examine the various arguments about humanity, justice, good policy, and religion for themselves.  In treating this announcement as an editorial or news item, Dunlap adopted a strategy sometimes deployed by other printers to promote books and pamphlets they published.

Whatever the conclusions reached in the Address … upon Slave-Keeping, Dunlap apparently did not find them sufficiently convincing to alter his policies concerning the kinds of advertising that he printed in the Pennsylvania Packet.  Two advertisements about enslaved people appeared on the facing page, one offering a “HEALTHY country bred NEGRO LAD” for sale and the other seeking to hire a “SMART, active WHITE or NEGRO BOY … to wait on table and go on errands.”  Candidates for that position included enslaved youths who did the work while their enslavers received the wages.  An advertisement in the supplement described a “Negro Fellow named LONDON” who liberated himself by running away from his enslaver in Baltimore and offered a reward for his capture and return.  Even as Dunlap treated the conclusion of the Address … upon Slave-Keeping as an editorial intended to arouse interest in a pamphlet he sold, he generated revenue by printing and disseminating advertisements that perpetuated slavery.