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Article: Jefferson and the Press: Crucible of Liberty.(Book review)
- Article from:
- The Journal of Southern History
- Article date:
- November 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Southern Historical Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Jefferson and the Press: Crucible of Liberty. By Jerry W. Knudson. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, c. 2006. Pp. xviii, 221. $34.95, ISBN 978-1-57003-607-1.)
Undoubtedly, the American founders were ill prepared for the vitriol that poured from the partisan gazettes during the political broils of the Federalist and Jeffersonian eras. George Washington was infuriated by the scathing abuse of the Philadelphia Aurora, which denounced the president's farewell address as "the loathings of a sick mind" (p. 15). John Adams and Thomas Jefferson similarly lamented that the press engaged in "falsehood and defamation," in the words of Jefferson's second ...