The National Gazette was an Anti-Federalist partisan newspaper that was first published onOctober 31,1791. It was published and edited bi-weekly by poet and printer Philip Freneau until October of 1793.
The "National Gazette was founded at the urging of republican leaders James Madison and Thomas Jefferson in order to counter the influence of the rival Federalist newspaper, The Gazette of the United States. Not unlike other papers of the era, the "National Gazette" centered around its fervent political content. The Gazette's political content was often written pseudonymously and with a strong [[Anti-Federalism|Anti-Federalist] bias. Many prominent republicans contributed articles pseudonymously, including Madison and Jefferson.
The Gazette is unique among early American partisan newspapers for voicing strong opposition to the policies of the sitting Administration, but also for being substantially supported by one playing a substantial role in that administration: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson originally enticed Freneau to come to Philadelphia to edit the "Gazette" by hiring him as a translator at the United States Department of State for an annual salary of $250. Contemporary papers decried this apparent impropriety, as did prominent Federalist Alexander Hamilton.
The paper spent much of its time criticizing the policies of the Washington Administration. For example, the paper described Alexander Hamilton's financial policies in 1792 as "numerous evils...pregnant with every mischief," described George Washington's sixty-first birthday celebration as "a forerunner of other monarchical vices," and described soldiers marching in a parade in a similar fashion, calling it an "assist in establishing monarchical fashions." The "Gazette's" strident polemics and screeds against the Washington administration led President Washington to despise the "Gazette", and to refer to its editor pejoratively as "that Rascal Freneau."
Freneau's most voracious critic was John Fenno of the rival partisan newspaper The Gazette of the United States, who criticized Freneau's publication as "the vehicle of party spleen and opposition to the great principles of order, virtue, and religion." Freneau would often respond to the attacks in his own publication in poetic verse.
The Gazette unofficially stopped publishing in October 1793, two years after its establishment, citing "a considerable quantity of new and elegant printing types from Europe" to be obtained, but it is believed that the outbreak of yellow fever in Philadelphia combined with dwindling subscriptions contributed to the paper's demise. Jefferson would later resign the Secretary of State position, ending Freneau's main source of income and funding for the paper.
Reference
- Infamous Scribblers. Eric Burns, Public Affairs, 2006. p280-290.
- Alexander Hamilton. Ron Chernow, Penguin Press, 2004.