1 10 10 https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/b9565c830e1f6f971ab64520dd885c64.JPG 0768090c0cd9b1faf74ad085dd5d0aba Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Broadside Title A name given to the resource The LAD who carries The Massachusetts Spy, Wishes all his kind Customers A Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year! Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1770 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 22 x 18 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Boston, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Isaiah Thomas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=350597">AAS Catalog Record</a> Description An account of the resource In colonial America, newspapers were delivered to their readers in a variety of ways. In the cities, customers often picked up their papers at the printing office. In the countryside, post riders delivered newspapers. Having free access to the postal service was so valuable that newspaper publishers competed to be named postmaster in their cities. Newspaper copies destined for other cities might be sent by stagecoach or even coastal schooner. As cities grew in the second half of the eighteenth century, another feature of the local delivery system became more common: the paperboy. And along with the paperboy came the paperboy’s annual plea for a holiday tip. This 1770 broadside “carrier’s address” is a “Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year” verse printed for the carriers of the <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/19">Massachusetts Spy</a>: “Kind Sirs! your gen’rous bounty show, / few shillings on your Lad bestow.”  Broadside Isaiah Thomas Postal Service https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/2c0a1576edd234062c7b724878cfeccc.jpg e30c3d2c401ce006122cb138e5ff0a07 https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/5b43009ea7cbd4ac19ae8cfad349b93f.jpg 5a959c6b89a50c2dd5a4f2d6c6ed70c7 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource The Halifax Gazette, or The Weekly Advertiser Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource December 12-19, 1765, and February 6-13, 1766 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 40 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Halifax, Nova Scotia Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Anthony Henry Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=528868">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/528868">View larger images</a> Description An account of the resource Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831) would <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/show/19">become a prominent Patriot printer</a> during the American Revolution and eventually one of the wealthiest men in the United States, but at sixteen he illegally left his apprenticeship in Boston with a poor printer named Zechariah Fowle (1724-76) to learn his trade in London. He never made it to London and instead found himself in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1765. In Halifax he worked for the town’s only printer, Anthony Henry (1734-1800), who turned out to be inept at his business and soon left the newspaper, the Halifax Gazette, in the care of Thomas. Thomas, like many printers at this time, hated the Stamp Act, as it was harmful to business. During the several months he stayed in Halifax, he published many articles against the act, printed the tax stamp upside down, and even created images of the devil attacking the stamp, before he resorted to cutting all the stamps off of his supply of paper. According to Thomas, these protests “made no trifling bustle in the place,” including causing the Gazette to briefly lose its government patronage. The two images from the Halifax Gazette shown here illustrate some of the ways Thomas spoke out against the Stamp Act. The first, the front page of the December 12-19, 1765, issue of the paper, replicates the Pennsylvania Journal, which came to Halifax via a sailing vessel and featured black mourning bars and a skull and cross bones illustration to signify the potential death of the paper due to the Stamp Act. The second shows a woodcut of the devil attacking the Stamp Act, which appeared on the second page of the issue for February 6-13, 1766. This woodcut was created by Thomas himself. Isaiah Thomas Newspaper Stamp Act https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/c6cca69373dbaadfae00a31e83b628b0.JPG 1f6214ee82c733c01f163ba6af74464d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Broadside Title A name given to the resource Important Intelligence of PEACE! Between America and Great-Britain Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. Important Intelligence of PEACE! Between America and Great-Britain, and all the European Powers at War. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1783 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 30 x 23 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Worcester, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Isaiah Thomas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=320120">AAS Catalog Record</a> Description An account of the resource This broadside announcing the Treaty of Paris was published by <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/browse?tag=Isaiah+Thomas">Isaiah Thomas</a> (1749-1831) in Worcester, Massachusetts. The subtitle—”Sure and Certain”—immediately tries to dispel any worries about the treaty being a rumor. But in case there was any doubt, Thomas also lists exactly where the news came from. Being an inland town, Worcester was at the end of a long news network: the intelligence came by ship into Philadelphia, then moved on to New Jersey, New York, and Boston, finally reaching Worcester nine days later. As Thomas notes, “Great rejoicing has been manifested wherever the above glorious intelligence came.”  Broadside Isaiah Thomas https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/2543d91e2d33a86136bc4b97b90f8d95.jpg 719f72e9b9bf0246d08f132092529b99 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource "Messieurs Printers…At a meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Worcester…" Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The Massachusetts Gazette: and the Boston Weekly News-Letter Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 30, 1774 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 40 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Boston, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Richard Draper Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=120">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/cropped/120_0002.JPG">View image of full page</a> Description An account of the resource So-called “rebels” or “patriots” were not the only ones to use print media to their advantage during the pre-Revolution crisis. In the spring of 1774, loyalists in the shire town of Worcester, Massachusetts, felt that they were being excluded from the political process and that town meetings were being dominated by a rebellious faction that was squelching their views in open discussions and written petitions. To combat their weakened power, these loyalists wrote an open letter voicing their complaints. This letter has since become known as the “Tory Protest.” They sent it to the Tory-leaning Boston newspaper, the Massachusetts Gazette: and the Boston Weekly News-Letter, which, as can be seen here, published it on June 30, 1774. (Worcester would not have its own printing press until the <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/19">arrival of Isaiah Thomas in April 1775</a>.) This, the <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/news-in-colonial-america/item/116">oldest newspaper in the colonies</a> and the official voice of the royal government, was now being published by Margaret Draper (1727- ca. 1804), who took over the publication after the death of her husband on June 5, 1774. The loyalists also sent copies of this letter to the royal governor and copied its text into the Worcester town records. At a town meeting held later that summer, the loyalists were further humiliated when the town’s Whigs forced the town clerk, Clark Chandler (1746-1804), to blot out the Tory Protest from the town records by dipping his hand in ink and spreading it across the pages. The Tory Protest was signed by fifty-two men, many of whom were wealthy landowners and staunch supporters of the royal government. Perhaps most notable among them was James Putnam (1725-89), a prominent lawyer considered one of the finest legal minds in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. John Adams (1735-1836), the future second president of the United States, studied law as an apprentice to Putnam. The Tory Protest exemplifies the role various media played in the political protests leading up to the Revolution. This was an open letter sent both to prominent public officials and to the “public prints” of influential newspapers. The protest itself also attacked the dissemination of information through the Committees of Correspondence, calling them “a public grievance and nuisance.” The protest further denounced the covenants of non-importation and other written petitions circulated through these committees when it cited “that papers have been lately published, and are now circulating through the province, inviting, and wickedly tempting all persons to sign them; fully implying, if not expressly denouncing the destruction of all, that refuse to subscribe those unlawful combinations, tending directly to sedition, civil war, and rebellion.” Isaiah Thomas John Adams Newspaper https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/0978eec9aa1d74ec6d229655ee1a3690.JPG 7a47c7a4711954d110420179b62403a2 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource "Worcester, July 24…On Monday last a number of patriotic gentlemen of this town…assembled on the green near the liberty pole…" Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The Massachusetts Spy, or, American Oracle of Liberty Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource July 24, 1776 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 44 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Worcester, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Isaiah Thomas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=152">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/cropped/152_0003.JPG">View image of full page</a> Description An account of the resource Public readings of the newly minted Declaration of Independence took place in taverns, <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/30">churches</a>, town greens, or anywhere else people could gather. In New England, the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence is believed to have taken place in Worcester, Massachusetts. Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831)—a Bostonian printer who had <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/show/19">resettled in Worcester at the beginning of the war</a>—is said to have intercepted a post rider bound for Boston carrying a copy of the Declaration and subsequently read it to a large crowd from the roof of the portico of the Worcester Meeting House (later known as Old South Church). Several days later, on July 22, a bigger and more formal celebration took place, coverage of which appeared in the July 24, 1776, issue of Thomas’s newspaper, the Massachusetts Spy. The article describes how “a number of patriotic gentlemen of this town, animated by a love of their country, and to shew their approbation of the measure lately taken by the Grand Council of America, assembled on the green near the liberty pole,” where they displayed the colors of the thirteen colonies, rang bells, beat drums, and read the Declaration of Independence to “a large and respectable body (among whom were the Select-men and Committee of Correspondence) assembled on the occasion, who testified their approbation by repeated huzzas, firing of musquetry and cannon, bonfires, and other demonstrations of joy.” They followed these demonstrations by removing the king’s arms from the courthouse and burning them, after which a “select company of the Sons of Freedom” went to a tavern that had been known as the King’s Arms and tore down the sign proclaiming it as such. According to this article, the tavern keeper—a woman named Mary Stearns—“cheerfully complied” with their wishes. The crowd then celebrated by drinking in her tavern to <a href="http://pastispresent.org/2016/good-sources/raise-a-glass-to-freedom-independence-and-perpetual-itching/">twenty-four separate toasts</a>, among which were toasts for “Sore Eyes to all Tories, and a Chesnut [sic] Burr for an Eye Stone” and “Perpetual itching without the benefit of scratching to the Enemies of America.”     Declaration of Independence Isaiah Thomas Newspaper https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/aa3ac1c105aa83e26217966b7b8928a7.jpg db0d314392788dfc65f251f93c3ce5a1 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource "Bloody News. Portsmouth, April 20, 1775." Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The New-Hampshire Gazette, and Historical Chronicle Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource April 21, 1775 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Portsmouth, N.H. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available D. Fowle Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=91">AAS Catalog Record</a> Description An account of the resource Although breaking news usually appeared on the interior of colonial newspapers as that side of the paper was generally printed last, this copy of the <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/25">New-Hampshire Gazette</a>—published by Daniel Fowle (ca. 1715-87)—leads with a front-page breaking news story of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. This account describes the confusion of the early accounts of the battles (“The foregoing is the different Accounts we have receiv’d, but how far and what Part is authentic, Presume not to determine”) and makes references to the “Expresses” carrying news of the engagement. These expresses were fast riders and horses who were sometimes commissioned by the Committees of Correspondences to relay the events as quickly as possible. Publishers often employed post riders as express riders, who would, when not carrying an individual missive, deliver both printed materials as well as letters. <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/browse?tag=Isaiah+Thomas">Isaiah Thomas</a>, along with fellow printers William Goddard of Baltimore, John Holt of New York, and Thaddeus Burr of Fairfield, Connecticut, established a system of post riders that not only carried their publications but also communications from the various Committees of Correspondence throughout the northern colonies.  Click the image below to browse the full issue.  <iframe src="https://fliphtml5.com/embed/dist/html/embed-cover.html#!/?w=0&bc=#000&p=1&l=http://online.fliphtml5.com/xohe/tsli/&t=http://online.fliphtml5.com/xohe/tsli/files/shot.jpg" frameborder="0" width="219" height="350"></iframe> Battles of Lexington and Concord Committee of Correspondence Isaiah Thomas Newspaper Postal Service https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/ab24fa1da69ba8aa75cef04f99795ae5.JPG 7a731640b030269ee25ba341c6c3aaca Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource Rivington's New-York Gazetteer; or The Connecticut, New-Jersey, Hudson's-River, and Quebec Weekly Advertiser Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource June 1, 1775 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 48 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant New York, N.Y. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available James Rivington Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=138">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/138_">View more issues</a> Description An account of the resource James Rivington (1724-1802), publisher of Rivington’s New-York Gazetteer, was born in London and was a bookseller in his native land before immigrating to the colonies in 1760. He eventually established a bookstore in New York and then ventured into publishing this newspaper in April 1773. The New-York Gazetteer was a leading loyalist paper throughout the war. This issue is a good example of how news circulated through colonial print culture, the same text often appearing in multiple mediums. Reprints of two other imprints appear side by side on the front page of this issue: The broadside<a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/16">A Circumstantial Account of an Attack that Happened on the 19th of April 1775, on His Majesty’s Troops</a>, which portrays General Gage’s account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, is in virtual dialogue with depositions about the battles taken by order of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress expressing the Americans’ side. These depositions would be distributed in July as part of a pamphlet titled <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/24">A Narrative, of the Excursion and Ravages of the King’s Troops Under the Command of General Gage, on the Nineteenth of April, 1775</a>, published by <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/browse?tag=Isaiah+Thomas">Isaiah Thomas</a>. Battles of Lexington and Concord Isaiah Thomas Newspaper https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/926a98772cc9414886d41e9408a85b7a.jpg da0a2d544b2eae361092c66991c1f26a https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/9efbc4355d97880cfe98b40fcc7cf1c0.jpg 93e63776b7dac3ac88bb0970fece2f0c https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/13e828cbea9aff92a2b503b93b502a43.jpg 9d755da22c1b432323fcb82afba33196 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Book Title A name given to the resource A Narrative, of the Excursion and Ravages of the King's Troops Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. A Narrative, of the Excursion and Ravages of the King's Troops Under the Command of General Gage, On the nineteenth of April, 1775. Together with the Depositions Taken by Order of Congress, To support the Truth of it. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1775 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 19 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Worcester, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Isaiah Thomas, by order of the Provincial Congress. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=324046">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/324046">View more pages</a> Description An account of the resource This book, commissioned by the new Provincial Congress, was one of the first items printed in Worcester, Massachusetts, after printer <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/19">Isaiah Thomas’s arrival in April 1775</a>. As the title explains, it is A Narrative, of the Excursion and Ravages of the King’s Troops Under the Command of General Gage, on the Nineteenth of April, 1775.It includes “Depositions Taken by Order of Congress, To Support the truth of it,” as well as a list of casualties. This publication was the new Provincial Congress’s method of showing an official inquiry into what had occurred on the day of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. There were many <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/exhibits/show/age-of-revolution/item/37">depositions taken</a>, all under oath, even one from a soldier “of His Majesty’s own regiment of foot” who declared that “we drew up on the Concord side of the bridge, the provincials came down upon us, upon which we engaged and gave the first fire.” This particular statement from one of King George’s own troops, along with statements from others who had seen the events of the day, were intended to prove that the British had instigated the conflict. This Narrative was commissioned by the Provincial Congress on May 22, 1775, and Thomas had it ready for distribution in July. Copies were sent to King George III, the provincial governors, and other influential personages who may have been swayed by its “official” information. This was the only official printing Thomas completed for the new congress. Battles of Lexington and Concord Book Isaiah Thomas https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/61e94f76ecbaeb7d22e6d088b6badd18.jpg d1ddd651b93823d494971b14adf45efa Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Broadside Title A name given to the resource Bloody Butchery, by the British Troops: or, The Runaway Fight of the Regulars. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1775 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 51 x 39 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Salem, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available E. Russell Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=314857">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/314857">View larger image</a> <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/transcription-of-a-bloody-butchery">Transcription</a> Description An account of the resource The American account of the events at Lexington and Concord is recounted in this dramatic broadside. Note the heavy black borders and the coffins that adorn the top of the broadside. Both the graphics and the inflammatory prose are designed to incite outrage in the reader and to inspire sympathy with the American cause of the rebellion.  The text of the broadside depicts the British troops as attacking the Americans or “provincials” with a “savage barbarity” that included “shooting down the unarmed, aged, and infirm, they disregarded the cries of the wounded, killing them without mercy, and mangling their bodies.” This broadside also exonerates the Americans, claiming that “not one instance of cruelty that we have heard of was committed by our victorious militia.” Rather, the Americans “listen[ed] to the merciful dictates of the Christian religion. They breathed a higher sentiment of humanity.”  This broadside was printed in Salem, Massachusetts, by Ezekiel Russell (d. 1796), a Boston printer who had moved to Salem in 1774 and established the Salem Gazette. <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/browse?tag=Isaiah+Thomas">Isaiah Thomas</a>, in his 1810 book, The History of Printing in America, wrote, “A young woman who lived in Russell’s family sometimes invoked the muse, and wrote ballads on recent tragical events, which being immediately printed, and set off with wooden cuts of coffins, etc., had frequently ‘a considerable run.’” It is unknown if this woman authored the elegy that appears at the bottom of this broadside, but it seems quite possible. A transcription of the broadside can be found <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/transcription-of-a-bloody-butchery">here</a>. Battles of Lexington and Concord Broadside Isaiah Thomas https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/c102fa21659197d1613478437b30bb8a.jpg 1533de16fb4a553f8c469f5f5bb2c294 https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/files/original/2475a932db1d5228decd64f3b1808b74.jpg a963eb8b91a712afa02d775866974023 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Type The nature or genre of the resource Newspaper Title A name given to the resource "Worcester, May 3. Americans! forever bear in mind the Battle of Lexington!" Alternative Title An alternative name for the resource. The distinction between titles and alternative titles is application-specific. The Massachusetts Spy, or, American Oracle of Liberty Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource May 3, 1775 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource 44 cm. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Worcester, Mass. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Isaiah Thomas Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="http://catalog.mwa.org/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=152">AAS Catalog Record</a> <a href="https://gigi.mwa.org/imagearchive/filename/152_">View more issues</a> Description An account of the resource While most colonial newspapers had circulations of between 300 and 600, the Massachusetts Spy had a circulation of 3,500 from subscribers throughout the thirteen colonies, making it the most popular American newspaper at the time. Designed specifically for the middle class, the paper was founded in Boston in 1770 by <a href="https://collections.americanantiquarian.org/earlyamericannewsmedia/items/browse?tag=Isaiah+Thomas">Isaiah Thomas</a> (1749-1831) and his former master, Zechariah Fowle (1724-76). Later, Thomas would buy Fowle out and publish the Spy on his own. While Thomas initially tried to make the Spy politically impartial, he soon found it impossible to do so in Boston, the epicenter of the growing imperial crisis. Thomas’s strident Whig position is evident in his writing and in his text above the masthead: “Americans!---Liberty or Death!---Join or Die!”  Thomas’s views frequently got him in trouble with the royal authorities, and under the advisement of John Hancock (1737-93) and with the assistance of Timothy Bigelow (1739-90) and Joseph Warren (1741-75), Thomas smuggled his press out of Boston during the night of April 16, 1775. He removed it to the inland Whig stronghold of Worcester, where he set it up in Bigelow’s basement. When paper finally arrived in early May, he was able to publish this issue of the Spy, the first thing ever printed in Worcester. As was customary with colonial newspapers, the breaking news appeared on the inside of the publication, and thus on page 3 in column 1 is Thomas’s account of the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Far from objective, Thomas’s partisanship shines through. He ends the introductory paragraph by claiming that the British troops had “wantonly, and in a most inhuman manner fired upon and killed a number of our countrymen, then robbed them of their provisions, ransacked, plundered and burnt their houses! nor could the tears of defenseless women, some of whom were in the pains of childbirth, the cries of helpless, babes, nor the prayers of old age, confined to beds of sickness, appease their thirst for blood!—or divert them from their DESIGN of MURDER and ROBBERY!” Battles of Lexington and Concord Isaiah Thomas John Hancock Newspaper Timothy Bigelow