Newsprint
One of the most prominent newspapers in colonial America, the Pennsylvania Gazette was printed by Benjamin Franklin himself. Given Franklin’s active participation in the Paxton debate, his paper offers a backdrop against which to read his arguments and to measure changes in colonial settlement policy.
The Gazette also offers a rich, weekly record of affairs within in the colony and across the Atlantic.
The publication traverses the Paxton print debate (1763-64) and situates that massacre in a wider context of indigenous warfare. The 23 curated issues span from Pontiac’s Rebellion (June 9, 1763) through the 1764 election results (December 27, 1764).
Read Will Fenton's post on Uncommon Sense for a longer a discussion of the Pennsylvania Gazette and the Paxton massacre.
Alongside the aforementioned issues of the Pennsylvania Gazette, LancasterHistory.org has digitized two excerpts from The Gentleman's Magazine, a periodical published in London between 1731-1922. Notably, the April 1764 issue includes a version ofBenjamin Franklin's Narrative of the Late Massacres.
| We have currently digitized 26 issues of the Gazette and Gentleman's Magazine, arranged chronologically in the path below "Contents." |
