The Course of Tolerance: Freedom of the Press in Nineteenth-Century America

This work examines the operation of the First Amendment, especially where it concerns freedom of the press, during the nineteenth century. It examines contemporary nineteenth century views on press freedom, placing them in the context of the issues that prompted and shaped them. Primary sources--pamphlets, speeches, sermons, letters, diaries, newspapers, and official documents--were used to highlight free press issues. It confirms that First Amendment rights were controversial issues for many nineteenth century Americans. The Course of Tolerance examines previously ignored issues such as the Postal Bill of 1836 and press freedom during the Reconstruction period in the South, making this the most comprehensive volume on its subject to date. Other topics included are libel, the War of 1812, abolitionism, the Civil War, and the Spanish-American War. Through treatment of these issues, the reader is introduced to a broad variety of the nineteenth century's writings, many of which have not been analyzed thoroughly in this century. Following the main body of the book is a selected bibliography and index. This volume will be of great interest to students of communications law, journalism history, and First Amendment theory and philosophy.

Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction "A Tendency to Calumny": Defining New Boundaries for Libel Testing the Limits of Tolerance: Mobocracy and the War of 1812 Schools for Democracy: Civil Libel and the Party Press "Their Mad and Wicked Schemes": Abolitionists and the Post Office "The Savage Populace": Violence Against Abolitionists "Watchmen on the Wall": Civil War and Military Censorship "The Rule of Reticence": War and Reconstruction in the South The Gathering Clouds: Labor Unrest and the Spanish American War Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
DONNA LEE DICKERSON is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Mass Communications at the University of South Florida. She is the author of Typestick of Texas History, Florida Media Law, and co-author of College Student Press Law. She has also written several journal articles including William Cowper Brann: 19th Century Press Critic, Retraction Statutes and their Constitutional Implications, and Fashioning a New Libel Defense: The Advent of Neutral Reportage.

Review :
"The Course of Tolerance provides significant insight into a century-long debate over the place of a free press in American society. In its pages, Donna Dickerson shows how the limits of discussion slowly were expanded so that the press and individuals could speak and write on an ever-increasing range of topics. By exploring many original sources, Dickerson brings readers a fuller understanding of this important development. In an area in which research often remains focused on legal decisions, Dickerson looks at what individuals said about expressive rights. As she so well demonstrates, legal cases provide only part of the story where free speech is concerned; most freedom of expression issues are debated and settled out of court. Thus, the understanding of such discussions in the nineteenth century that she provides is vital to our comprehension of this important right."-Margaret A. Blanchard Professor of Journalism University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill