What was advertised in a revolutionary American newspaper 250 years ago today?
“A regular Intercourse between the Colonies, at this critical Juncture, is of the utmost Importance.”
As the imperial crisis intensified in the spring of 1775, Isaiah Thomas, the printer of the Massachusetts Spy, left Boston just before the battles at Lexington and Concord. He had previously planned to establish a printing office in Worcester, setting up a junior partner to publish the town’s first newspaper. When he left Boston because his political principles and advocacy put him in jeopardy with royal officials, however, he also decided to transfer his newspaper to Worcester and become the local printer. After revising his plans, he set about expanding the infrastructure for collecting and distributing news in central Massachusetts.
Worcester, previously lacking a printer and a newspaper, became a much more important hub for disseminating information. Tarent Putnam aimed to be part of that transformation, announcing in the Providence Gazette that he “has began to ride Post from Providence to Worcester, and proposes, on receiving proper Encouragement, to continue his Ride weekly.” He departed Providence on Saturdays, “immediately after the Publication of the Providence Gazette,” and returned on the following Thursday. Thomas published the Massachusetts Spy (now branded the Massachusetts Spy, Or, American Oracle of Liberty) on Wednesdays, which meant that Putnam carried newspapers hot off the presses in both directions. In addition to carrying letters, the postrider accepted subscriptions “for the Providence or Worcester Papers” and promised that he would “faithfully execute any other Business that may be entrusted to him.”
Yet he did not offer these services merely to earn his own livelihood. Instead, he asked colonizers to consider the impact they could have on current events if they supported his undertaking. Putnam asserted that “a regular Intercourse between the Colonies, at this critical Juncture, is of the utmost Importance.” Accordingly, he “flatters himself that the Friends of Liberty and the Rights of Mankind will afford him every Encouragement.” Putnam did more than move letters and newspapers from one town to another; he made important contributions to the flow of information that kept citizens informed as the siege of Boston continued and the imperial crisis became a war for independence. The stakes were high … and readers had an opportunity to play their part by supporting Putnam’s “POST from Providence to Worcester.” In hiring his services, they simultaneously became better informed themselves and aided the American cause by keeping communities in New England and beyond better connected and aware of the latest information regarding current events.