The year was 1795, the president was George Washington, and the newspaper was Philadelphia’s own Aurora General Advertiser. The pro-Jefferson Aurora was relentless in its written attacks on Washington, John Adams, and their fellow Federalists, who responded by harassing the paper’s editors, eventually charging them with seditious libel. Much like ongoing controversies over policies of the Trump administration, the clash between Hamiltonian Federalists and Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans tested the limits of the First Amendment, due process, executive power, and actions taken by the federal government in the name of national security.

We see historic parallels in which the party in power engaged in voter suppression, demonized critics, persecuted foreigners deemed undesirable, imposed restrictions on opposition journalists, leveled trumped-up criminal charges against enemies, plotted to prevent the other party’s candidate from becoming president by disqualifying their electors, and encouraged, condoned, or ignored acts of violence committed by supporters against political opponents. The 18th century targets included the offices and editors of the Aurora.

Beginnings

Soon after the death of Benjamin Franklin in 1790, Benjamin Franklin Bache (pronounced “beech”) used the printing press he inherited from his grandfather to establish the General Advertiser, and Political, Commercial, Agricultural, and Literary Journal. This coincided with the beginning of Philadelphia’s 10-year tenure as the nation’s capital. By 1794, the newspaper had evolved into the Aurora and General Advertiser and became a staunch critic of Washington and the Federalists. Bache’s work eventually would get him barred from the halls of Congress.

Founded by Alexander Hamilton, the Federalist Party promoted the interests of wealthy bankers, merchants, and landowners who favored and benefited from a strong, centralized federal government, according to American History Central: The Encyclopedia of American History (AHC). The Democratic-Republican Party of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison stood for strict adherence to the Constitution, limits on federal powers, an egalitarian society, an economy based on agriculture, state and individual rights, and an alliance with France, rather than Great Britain.

Initially supportive of the nation’s first president, “As early as 1791, the Advertiser sometimes published opinions chiding what some saw as the trappings of monarchy in Washington’s presidency, [and] articles expressed distaste with the notion of making Washington’s birthday a holiday,” Delia Titzell wrote in a column for the George Washington Presidential Library. “By Washington’s second term, Bache was leveling accusations of corruption and bad character. [He] also began publishing and selling forged letters claimed to have been written by Washington during the war that made his motives for taking his commission appear self-interested. The Aurora berated Washington’s ownership of slaves, expressing disgust that ‘Liberty’s Apostle should be seen with chains in his hands, holding men in bondage.’”

Corruption and Impeachment

In October 1795, the Aurora published a letter, presumed to be written by Bache or one of his staff, but attributed to “A Calm Observer,” claiming that the Comptroller of the Treasury and President Washington violated Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution by granting and accepting, respectively, several thousands more than the $25,000 annual salary allocated by Congress. The charges resulted in a lively and sometimes acrimonious printed exchange between the paper and Oliver Wolcott, then Secretary of the Treasury and the former Comptroller in question, who admitted to and defended the payments to Washington, noting that although made, had not been requested.

Citing the impeachment clause, the Aurora warned Wolcott, “I know of no crime or misdemeanor against the Constitution and the laws greater than that which you have severally committed.” It drew nationwide attention at the time, but the controversy eventually fizzled out, except for Bache. On the occasion of Washington’s retirement from office in 1797 he noted,” The name of Washington from this day has ceased to give currency to political iniquity and legalized corruption.”

Some of the charges Bache leveled at Washington over the years were true, others were mere opinion, still others were blatantly false. Of course, Washington was no fan of Bache, calling his paper “outrages on common decency” and concluding, “If you read the Aurora of this city… you cannot but have perceived with what malignant industry and persevering falsehoods I am assailed in order to weaken, if not destroy, the confidence of the Public.” He expressed his reluctance to seek a third term to Alexander Hamilton, citing a “disinclination to be longer buffeted in the public prints by a set of infamous scribblers.”

In a letter to Wolcott, Washington concluded, “That Mr. Bache will continue his attacks on the government, there can be no doubt.” Writing to Secretary of State Timothy Pickering, Washington characterized Bache’s “continual attacks” on the administration as “indecent as they are devoid of truth and fairness. Under these circumstances, it would be wished that the enlightened public could have a clear and comprehensive view of facts, but how to give it lies the difficulty. I see no method at present.” Benjamin Rush, noted Philadelphia physician and signatory to the Declaration of Independence, speculated that Bache’s writings in the Aurora induced Washington to retire.

A Step Too Far

Enactment of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 heightened the divide between the two political parties of the day. They were passed by the Federalist majority in Congress and signed into law by President John Adams, supposedly in the interest of national security at a time when war with France was considered likely. “The Acts were met with opposition and criticism from Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans, who argued they were unconstitutional and violated Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press,” noted The National Archives.

The Sedition Act restricted freedom of speech and of the press by imposing fines or prison for anyone who criticized the president, Congress, or government in print or speech. The Naturalization Act targeted immigrants, who tended to favor the Democratic-Republican Party, by making it more difficult for them to become citizens, thus suppressing potential votes by anti-Federalists. The Alien Act and the Alien Enemies Act provided for the expulsion of non-citizens deemed dangerous during times of peace and of war, respectively.

Out of the four, the Alien Enemies Act is the only one to remain in effect today. The Trump administration cites it as the legal basis for deporting hundreds of people to El Salvador for imprisonment without due process. “In the end, widespread anger over the Alien and Sedition Acts fueled Jefferson’s victory over Adams in the bitterly contested 1800 presidential election, and their passage is widely considered to be one of the biggest mistakes of Adams’ presidency,” according to History.com.

“The only journalists prosecuted under the Sedition Act were editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers,” noted AHC. The Act expired in 1800, but not before Bache and his successor, William Duane, were charged.

Arrests and Other Shenanigans

Soon after Bache printed a letter supporting France’s position in a diplomatic disagreement with the United States, the June 27, 1798 edition of the Aurora reported, “The editor was yesterday arrested on a warrant from Judge Peters of the Federal Circuit Court on the charge of libeling the President & Executive Government in a manner tending to excite sedition.” The arrest came more than two weeks before Adams signed the Sedition Act into law. Bail was set at $4,000, ahead of a court date that October. Bache went back to work at the Aurora, but, before he would stand trial, Benny, as he was known, became a victim of the yellow fever epidemic sweeping the city. He was 29 years old.

“After Bache’s untimely death, there were rumors of Federalist attempts to buy out the Aurora, but his widow, Margaret, retained and continued to publish her husband’s newspaper, with William Duane at the editorial helm,” according National Park Service historians. “William and Margaret married in 1800 and successfully continued the newspaper through the year 1822.”

Carrying on Bache’s war of words led to Duane’s arrest for seditious libel in 1799 for articles he published suggesting Britain’s undue influence on the U.S. government. He avoided prosecution after producing a letter in which Adams had expressed similar concerns. Ahead of the 1800 elections, the Federalists tried to pass a bill authored by Senator James Ross of Pennsylvania, legislation that would have let their allies block electors pledged to Jefferson.

“The Ross bill itself was a stealth measure, since the Senate’s debates were not then open to the public or reporters,” Bernard A. Weisberger wrote in his book, America Afire. A sympathetic senator passed the details of the bill to Duane, who published them in the Aurora. “The Senate called Duane before a quickly created Committee on Privileges to answer for the sin of printing ‘false, scandalous, defamatory, and malicious assertions.’”

To avoid seizure by the Sergeant-At-Arms for contempt, Duane went into hiding until Congress adjourned. The Ross bill failed “after Federalist hard-liners, of all people, could not agree on a final version.” The Federalist reign ended with the election of Jefferson in 1800, and when he took office the following year, Jefferson dismissed a federal case against Duane.

Over the years, the Aurora and its editors were the targets of physical violence. Federalist sympathizers assaulted Bache more than once, and Duane and his son were beaten severely by federal agents over his refusal to reveal the source of an article. The March 5, 1798 edition reported, “The front window of the office of the Aurora was, on Friday evening, successfully assaulted by three stones the size of a man’s fist or larger. Several panes of glass were consequently broken, and this is the third attack of the kind for which Mr. Bache has been indebted to the friends of regular government.”

Legacy

“With the U.S. Capital residing in Philadelphia from 1790 to 1800, the Aurora became the voice of opposition against the perceived (and sometimes real) pro-British sympathies of the Washington and Adams administrations, as well as their Federalist allies in Congress,” according an account by the National Park Service. “With the tacit support of Thomas Jefferson and open support of other Democratic-Republicans, the Aurora mercilessly attacked the federalists and helped shape the character of two-party politics in America.”

Time and history generally have been kind to George Washington (think “Cherry Tree” and “Father of his Country”). Writing through the tumult of his era, Bache was in the thick of history, but lacked the perspective of time. “As a strong critical voice against the Federalist Washington and Adams administrations, Bache’s Aurora was the most popular and well-known Republican newspaper of the early 1790s,” Titzell concluded. “At its peak, the Aurora had 1,700 subscribers, more than three times the average periodical of the day. Although often dismissed as a man on the wrong side of history, Bache has enjoyed renewed interest in recent years, celebrated as an early champion of freedom of the press and for his uncompromising idealism and outspokenness.”

In the very first issue of the General Advertiser Bache wrote, “The freedom of the press is the bulwark of liberty. If the people are enlightened the nation stands and flourishes, thro’ ignorance it fails or degenerates.”