Early American Newspapers: Series 1, 1690-1876

Focusing on the 18th and early 19th centuries, Early American Newspapers, Series 1—an America’s Historical Newspapers collection—offers over 350,000 issues from more than 710 titles printed during the nation's early periods. Based on Clarence S. Brigham's "History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820" and other authoritative works, this online collection contains newspapers from 23 states and the District of Columbia. Notable titles include:

Albany Register (New York)

• One of the most successful and influential American newspapers of the late 18th and early 19th century, the Register was edited from 1808 to 1822 by the ardent anti-Federalist Solomon Southwick. 
• Includes 485 issues published between 1794 and 1813

American Beacon (Norfolk, Virginia)

• Published by a ship captain in the busy 19th-century seaport of Norfolk, the Beacon focused on seafaring activities. 
• Includes 1,669 issues published between 1815 and 1820

American Mercury (Hartford, Connecticut)

• With a reputation for outspokenness, the Mercury was for many years Connecticut’s leading reform paper as well as a key proponent of ensuring legal equality for religious sects. 
• Includes 2,585 issues published between 1784 and 1829

American Minerva (New York)

• Self-described as “Patroness of Peace, Commerce, and the Liberal Arts,” Noah Webster’s federalist newspaper was established to support the policies of President George Washington. 
• Includes 744 issues published between 1793 and 1796

American Weekly Mercury (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

• Founded in 1719 and the first newspaper in the Colonies to be published outside of Boston, the Mercury was well known for its essays on political liberty. 
• Includes 1,371 issues published between 1719 and 1746

Arkansas Weekly Gazette (Little Rock)

• One of the first newspapers west of the Mississippi, the Gazette was founded 16 years before Arkansas achieved statehood. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, it remained one of the most influential newspapers in the region. 
• Includes 337 issues published between 1819 and 1826

Boston News-Letter (Massachusetts) 

• Established in 1704, the News-Letter was the first regularly published newspaper in the British Colonies of North America. Noted for its pro-British sympathies, the News-Letter went through a succession of printers, including Margaret Draper, one the few women printers of the 18th century. 
• Includes 3,501 issues published between 1704 and 1776

City Gazette (Charleston, South Carolina) 

• The City Gazette provides extensive coverage of the culture and history of Antebellum South Carolina, including the invention of the cotton gin and the rise of slavery. 
• Includes 10,307 issues published between 1787 and 1821

Daily National Intelligencer (Washington, D.C.)

• As the official publication for Congressional reports, the Intelligencer’s government news was shipped to editors across the country.
• Includes 2,113 issues published between 1813 and 1820

Eastern Argus (Portland, Maine)

• This long-running weekly argued for Maine’s independence from Massachusetts. 
• Includes 2,582 issues published between 1803 and 1833

Enquirer (Richmond, Virginia)

• This influential southern newspaper was edited and published for 41 years by leading American journalist Thomas Ritchie. Of the Enquirer, Thomas Jefferson wrote:" I read but a single newspaper, Ritchie's Enquirer, the best that is published or ever has been published in America." Later issues of the Enquirer offer perspectives on the Confederacy’s reaction to Reconstruction. 
• Includes 4,404 issues published between 1804 and 1837

Evening Post (New York City) 

• First published by Alexander Hamilton in 1801 as a broadside, the Post remains today the oldest continuously published daily in the country. It gained national fame under the editorship of poet and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant. 
• Includes 6,090 issues published between 1801 and 1821

Farmer’s Cabinet (Amherst, New Hampshire)

• The Cabinet is especially noteworthy for remaining neutral when many newspapers of its time were openly influenced by political controversy. 
• Includes 4,943 issues published between 1802 and 1879

Georgia Gazette (Savannah) 

• Georgia’s first newspaper, the Gazette provides a rich record of southern colonial life. 
• Includes 346 issues published between 1763 and 1770

Massachusetts Spy (Boston and Worcester) 

• Initially neutral but soon openly supporting the Patriots, the Massachusetts Spy was arguably the most important newspaper in America leading up to the Revolution. It was co-founded by Isaiah Thomas, one of the most successful and colorful journalists of the 18th century and founder of the American Antiquarian Society. 
• Includes 283 issues published in Boston between 1770 and 1775, and 2,371 issues published in Worcester between 1775 and 1820. 

National Aegis (Worcester, Massachusetts) 

• Offering a political counterpoint to Worcester’s Federalist paper, the Massachusetts Spy, the Aegis defended Jeffersonian Republicanism throughout its run. 
• Includes 989 issues published between 1801 and 1820

New-England Courant (Boston)

• Shortly after founding the Courant in 1721, James Franklin was imprisoned and his paper suppressed for its radical views against the General Court. Franklin’s younger brother, Benjamin, who had been serving his apprenticeship at the Courant, assumed control of the paper in 1723. Benjamin Franklin’s early writings, under the name Silence Dogood, appear in this paper. 
• Includes 245 issues published between 1721 and 1726

New-Hampshire Gazette (Portsmouth) 

• The first newspaper in the state of New Hampshire, the Gazette is also one the nation’s oldest existing papers. 
• Includes 4,155 issues published between 1756 and 1833

Pennsylvania Gazette (Philadelphia) 

• Published by Benjamin Franklin, this prominent 18th-century newspaper contains not only in-depth articles on every aspect of Colonial America but also the full text of many seminal government documents, including the U.S. Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers. 
• Includes 635 issues published between 1742 and 1757

Providence Patriot (Rhode Island)

• The Patriot, an influential and often eloquent paper, provides a local look at two early race riots: the 1824 Hardscrabble Riot and the 1831 Snow Town Riot in which working class whites attacked African American residents. Unable to control the violent mob, Providence officials requested that the Governor send in military troops. 
• Includes 1,507 issues published between 1814 and 1829

Publick Occurrences (Boston) 

• The first newspaper in North America, Publick Occurrences: Both Forreign and Domestick was published for the first and last time on September 26, 1690 before being shut down for printing “sundry doubtful and uncertain Reports” without royal consent. 
• Includes the single issue published in 1690

Vermont Gazette (Bennington) 

• Publisher Anthony Haswell, who brought the first printing press to Vermont, was jailed for publishing articles in the Gazette that criticized the United States’ newly established government.
• Includes 2,199 issues published between 1783 and 1832