The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and Its Unruly LegacyNorthwestern University Press, 2006 M07 21 - 285 pages With the introduction of the printing press in England in 1476, a struggle over its control--and its potential for interrupting power--was joined. The written word, once the domain of the upper levels of society that controlled politics, economics, and religion, could be seen passing into the hands of anyone throughout the social strata who wished to voice opinions on any topic of interest or importance. How the advent of printing led to the idea of a free press is the story told by David Copeland in this book, which traces a confrontation that began with issues of religion and gradually expanded into the realm of political freedom. The rise of a free press was, in many ways, a legacy of the Reformation and Enlightenment. Copeland describes a discourse centered on questions of religion--a discussion that the government, with all its religious authority, could not suppress because of the belief that the ability to reason for oneself was God-given. In this account we see how the debate moved from religion to the purely political sphere, and how, through the increased use of the printing press, it was opened to a multiplicity of voices and opinions. Spanning nearly four centuries in Britain and America, Copeland's book reveals how the tension between government control and the right to debate public affairs openly ultimately led to the idea of a free press; in doing so, it documents an intellectual development of unparalleled relevance and importance to the history of journalism. |
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Page xxii
... beginning , though , freedom of speech through the press was a means to an end - liberty of conscience , or the right to believe , interpret scripture , worship God , and live the Chris- tian life according to individual convictions ...
... beginning , though , freedom of speech through the press was a means to an end - liberty of conscience , or the right to believe , interpret scripture , worship God , and live the Chris- tian life according to individual convictions ...
Page 108
... beginning of the eighteenth century . Print- ing , to be profitable , needed a large , centralized audience . The Britons who came to America in the seventeenth century were literate for the most part , so reading material was important ...
... beginning of the eighteenth century . Print- ing , to be profitable , needed a large , centralized audience . The Britons who came to America in the seventeenth century were literate for the most part , so reading material was important ...
Page 144
... beginning the process that would lead to the unruly idea of a free press . Just how press debate would work needed little time to develop , however . In Boston , people would find out how it would work — just three months after the ...
... beginning the process that would lead to the unruly idea of a free press . Just how press debate would work needed little time to develop , however . In Boston , people would find out how it would work — just three months after the ...
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
Turning Points for Expression | 18 |
English OriginsNews | 53 |
Copyright | |
6 other sections not shown
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The Idea of a Free Press: The Enlightenment and Its Unruly Legacy David A. Copeland Limited preview - 2006 |
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advocated Anglican Areopagitica attacked authority Baptists believed Boston News-Letter British Britons Cambridge Catholic Cato Cato's Letters censor Charles church colonial America created Cromwell discussion dissenters eighteenth century English Enlightenment essays Franklin free and open free press Freedom of Speech French and Indian Frith Gazette gland Governor Henry Hobbes ideas issues James John Frith John Lilburne John Locke John Milton John Peter Zenger John Trenchard Journal jury king Levellers liberty of conscience licensing London Luther Mabbott Massachusetts Matthew Tindal ment monarchy nation nature newsbooks newspapers newssheets nonconformists officials open debate open press Oxford University Press pamphlets papers Parliament political Press in England printed word printers printing press produced Protestant public sphere published Puritan quoted Reformation religion reprint scripture seditious libel sermon seventeenth century Siebert society Star Chamber suppression Thomas tion Trenchard truth vols William Haller William Walwyn worship writings wrote York