Pennsylvania Evening Post

Pennsylvania Evening Post
Pennsylvania Evening Post (Life time: n.a.) · Public domain · source
Name	Pennsylvania Evening Post
Type	Daily newspaper
Foundation	1775
Ceased publication	1778
Founder	Benjamin Towne
Headquarters	Philadelphia
Language	English

Pennsylvania Evening Post was an influential 18th-century Philadelphia newspaper published during the American Revolutionary era. It provided news, commentary, and official notices to readers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and other mid-Atlantic colonies, and it intersected with figures and events of the Continental Congress, Second Continental Congress, and early United States politics. The paper recorded debates related to the Declaration of Independence, military campaigns such as the New York and New Jersey campaign, and diplomatic efforts involving the Continental Army and foreign powers like France.

History

The Post emerged amid a vibrant colonial press culture that included competitors such as the Pennsylvania Gazette, the Pennsylvania Packet, the New-York Gazette, the Boston Gazette, and the Providence Gazette. Its lifespan overlapped with major events like the Boston Tea Party, the Intolerable Acts, the Siege of Boston, and the Battle of Bunker Hill. The paper reported on legislative sessions of the Pennsylvania Provincial Conference, actions by the Pennsylvania Assembly, and pronouncements from the Continental Congress. It navigated tensions between Loyalist supporters of King George III and Patriots aligned with leaders such as George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin.

Founding and Early Years

Founded by printer Benjamin Towne in Philadelphia in 1775, the paper launched as part of Towne’s printing business that also produced almanacs and pamphlets read by merchants, artisans, and politicians in port cities like Baltimore, New York City, Boston, and Charleston, South Carolina. Early issues reprinted correspondence from figures including John Hancock, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and James Madison and carried notices concerning the Royal Navy, merchant shipping connected to the British Empire, and proclamations from provincial authorities such as William Penn’s successors. The Post’s press shared technical lineage with type founders and suppliers from London, paper makers from Holland, and papermills in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.

Editorial Stance and Content

Editorially, the paper occupied a complex position among publications that ranged from ardent Patriot organs like the Pennsylvania Journal to Loyalist broadsides such as the New-York Weekly Journal. It printed essays, letters, reports of legislative debates from the Continental Congress, reprints of pieces by pamphleteers like Thomas Paine and John Dickinson, and poetry from regional writers associated with the American Enlightenment and the Republicanism movement. Coverage included foreign intelligence about France, Spain, and the Dutch Republic; naval engagements such as the Battle of Quebec (1775); and economic notices tied to trade with the West Indies and the Caribbean. The Post also published advertisements from merchants involved with the East India Company and notices related to the Quartering Act and other imperial legislation debated in the British Parliament.

Role in the American Revolution

During the Revolutionary crisis the paper functioned as a conduit for Patriot communication, reporting on militia musters tied to units raised in Pennsylvania Line, dispatches from George Washington, and developments like the evacuation of Boston and the Siege of Yorktown preparations. It reprinted resolutions of bodies including the Suffolk Resolves and notices from committees such as the Committee of Correspondence and the Committee of Safety. The Post documented recruitment, supply, and mutation of public sentiment during campaigns including the Saratoga campaign and the Philadelphia campaign, and it covered diplomatic moves by envoys to Paris like Benjamin Franklin and John Jay. At times its issues provoked responses from Loyalist pamphleteers and drew attention from British military authorities in New York and the mid-Atlantic theater.

Key Personnel and Contributors

Benjamin Towne served as proprietor and editor, working with compositors, pressmen, and journeymen who came from press shops connected to figures such as Benjamin Franklin’s network and immigrant craftsmen from Scotland and Ireland. Contributors and reprinted writers included politicians and pamphleteers like Thomas Paine, John Adams, Samuel Adams, George Mason, Patrick Henry, and literary voices associated with the American Whig Society and provincial clubs. The Post ran letters attributed to merchants in Philadelphia and military officers in the Continental Army such as Nathanael Greene and Horatio Gates, and it carried reports derived from correspondents in cities like Baltimore, Norfolk, Providence, and Trenton.

Printing, Distribution, and Circulation

Printed with hand-set type on a wooden platen or common press, the Post used paper procured from regional mills and competed for advertising with city papers like the Pennsylvania Packet. Distribution relied on horse riders, coastal packet boats, and postriders who connected Philadelphia to hubs including New Castle, Delaware, Wilmington, Delaware, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, York, Pennsylvania, Princeton, New Jersey, and Newark, New Jersey. Subscriptions drew readers from business networks engaged with the East India Company, shipping agents on the Delaware River, and merchants trading with Carolina ports. The paper exchanged content with other colonial presses via reprint arrangements with firms in Boston, New York City, Baltimore, and Charleston.

Decline and Cessation

By 1778, pressures from wartime disruptions, occupation of Philadelphia by British forces, shortages of paper and type, competition from rival publishers, and shifting political fortunes contributed to dwindling circulation and the Post’s cessation. The British occupation influenced publishing in the city alongside Loyalist titles emanating from New York and temporary presses established by military authorities. After folding, the printing equipment and personnel dispersed to other shops and publications that continued to shape print culture in the early United States and influenced later nineteenth-century newspapers in Philadelphia and across the Mid-Atlantic.

Category:Defunct newspapers of Pennsylvania Category:Publications established in 1775 Category:Publications disestablished in 1778