Infamous Scribblers

The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism

By: Eric Burns

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Paperback | 13 February 2007 | Edition Number 1

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480 Pages

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20.9 x 14.1 x 3.5

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Infamous Scribblers is a perceptive and witty exploration of the most volatile period in the history of the American press. News correspondent and renowned media historian Eric Burns tells of Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton and Sam Adams -- the leading journalists among the Founding Fathers; of George Washington and John Adams, the leading disdainers of journalists; and Thomas Jefferson, the leading manipulator of journalists. These men and the writers who abused and praised them in print (there was, at the time, no job description of "journalist") included the incendiary James Franklin, Ben's brother and one of the first muckrakers; the high minded Thomas Paine; the hatchet man James Callender, and a rebellious crowd of propagandists, pamphleteers, and publishers. It was Washington who gave this book its title. He once wrote of his dismay at being "buffited in the public prints by a set of infamous scribblers." The journalism of the era was often partisan, fabricated, overheated, scandalous, sensationalistic and sometimes stirring, brilliant, and indispensable. Despite its flaws -- even because of some of them -- the participants hashed out publicly the issues that would lead America to declare its independence and, after the war, to determine what sort of nation it would be.

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A Note to Readers	p. ix
Introduction: Inappropriate Behavior	p. 3
The Role of Authority
The End of the Beginning	p. 19
Publishing by Authority	p. 35
Defying Authority	p. 53
The Sounds of Silence Dogood	p. 67
Science, Sex, and Super Crown Soap	p. 83
The End of Authority	p. 97
The Approach of War
Severing the Snake	p. 115
The Weekly Dung Barge"	p. 135
The Tory Dung Barge	p. 171
The Shot Spread 'Cross the Page	p. 185
Uncommon Prose	p. 199
A Sword of a Different Kind	p. 211
The Tumult of Peace
The Passionate Decade	p. 225
The Not-So-Unlikely Target	p. 247
The Gazette...	p. 261
...versus the Gazette	p. 277
Dark Whispers on the Page	p. 293
"The Arising Vapour"	p. 315
Cobbett's Quills	p. 337
Sedition	p. 351
Master and Mistress	p. 375
Post-Script	p. 395
Epilogue: Renewed Subscriptions	p. 407
Notes	p. 413
Bibliography	p. 441
Acknowledgments	p. 451
Index	p. 455
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Infamous Scribblers

The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism

At a Glance

Paperback

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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