Issue of the "New-England Courant," printed by Benjamin Franklin, Boston, 1723
Maine Historical Society
Printing in British America started in earnest by 1638, with a press at the newly formed Harvard College. While American printing grew steadily in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, news largely came from London, the cultural center of the British colonial world. Printed materials, collectively called “papers,” arrived by ship and were sold locally at booksellers, the postmaster’s office, or through subscription. Formats included pamphlets, broadsides, circulars, and books. Taverns or public houses supplied copies for quiet reading or read-aloud sessions, which fostered conversation.
In Britian—and by default the American colonies—printing required a license, and the government tightly controlled content. Yet, plenty of unauthorized press existed. Some even challenged the government, but doing so was punishable by fines or imprisonment.
The Oxford Gazette, England’s first “newspaper,” arrived on the scene in 1662—nearly half a century after its European counterparts. It took another forty years (1704) before British America saw its own continuously published newspaper The Boston News-Letter.