Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers Primary Documents on Events of the Period

Subjects:

• History » American History -- Colonial Era
• Communications » Journalism
• Communications » Political Communications

Reviews:

• Recommended for undergraduate and general collections.
  —Choice March 2001
• [A]llows journalism, media studies, history, and political science students a firsthand glimpse into the issues that made Colonial America....[O]ne comes away with a clear focus on the issues that fired the Revolution....For those professors looking for a seminar text regarding the role of the press in forming Colonial American public opinion, this is a thorough, 397-page option. Yet Copeland's newspaper background comes through with a short, straightforward writing style that will hold an undergraduate's attention.
  —American Journalism Fall 2002
• [a] worthwhile read for anyone interested in advancing his/her knowledge on the issue of freedom of the press in early North America.
  —Smoke & Fire News February 2001
• Debating the Issues in Colonial Newspapers is an excellent source for studying numerous topics of the colonial American period and should be considered for high-school, public, and undergraduate libraries.
  —Booklist/Reference Books Bulletin
• ...provides a detailed overview of each topic....The requirement of firsthand accounts in history-curriculum standards in many states will make this volume useful for both students and teachers.
  —School Library Journal
• For the creative high school teacher, this volume can help lead students into discussions of the earliest forms of censorship in this country, analyze the inoculation controversy over a smallpox vaccine or compare legalizing lotteries in Massachusetts. This is a little, but mighty book.
  —The GaleGroup
• Whether students refer to this book for history or science reports, for journalism or debates, all will find in this title a unique and memorable look at what the people who forged a new country thought about the issues affecting their daily lives. Recommended.
  —The Book Report

Table of Contents:

• Introduction: Newspaper in Colonial America
• Censorship, Printing Control and Freedom of the Press, 1690
• The Inoculation Controversy, 1721
• Impartiality, Objectivity and the Press, 1729
• Attakulakula Visits King George, 1730: Native American-English Relations
• The Trial of John Peter Zenger, 1735
• Women's Rights, 1738
• The Stono Rebellion, 1739
• The Great Awakening and George Whitefield, 1739-1745
• Religious Divisions, 1740-1745
• Massachusetts Legalizes Lotteries, 1744
• Medical Discoveries: The Amazing Tar Water, 1745
• Paper Money and the Currency Act, 1751
• The New York Public Education Controversy, 1753-1755
• The Albany Congress, Plan of Union, and French and Indian War, 1754-1763
• The Cherokee War, 1759-1761
• The Stamp Act Crisis, 1765-1766
• No Taxation without Representation, 1765-1766
• Tories versus Patriots, 1768-1775
• The Sons of Liberty, 1765-1776
• Nonimportation, 1768-1775
• The Boston Massacre, 1770
• Religious Liberty: Baptists Call for Toleration, 1770-1776
• The Somerset Case and the Anti-Slavery Controversy, 1772
• The Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party, 1773-1774
• The Continental Congress, 1774-1775
• Edenton Tea Party and Perceptions of Women, 1774
• Arguments over Going to War with England, 1774-1776
• Separation from England, 1768-1776
• Battles of Lexington and Concord, 1775
• Thomas Paine Publishes Common Sense, 1776
• The Declaration of Independence, 1776
• Chronology of Events
• Selected Bibliography
• Index