Newspaper Career
Following his grandfather's death in 1790, Bache inherited Franklin's printing equipment and many of his books. He founded The Philadelphia Aurora, a newspaper with an editorial position that surpassed Franklin's fierce pro-French and democratic position. Bache promised, "This paper will always be open, for the discussion of political, or any other interesting subjects, to such as deliver their sentiments with temper and decency, and whose motives appears to be, the public good." He also said, "The strictest impartiality will be observed in the publication of pieces offered with this view."
When he started on October 1, 1790, he called the paper the General Advertiser, and Political, Commercial, Agricultural and Literary Journal. In contrast to other papers, his incorporated articles on the sciences, literature, and the useful arts. Like Bache, many republican opponents criticized the Federalist policies and practices for ignoring the premises of enlightenment egalitarianism. After three months, on January 1, 1791, Bache dropped the word “Agricultural” from his paper’s title and removed the motto – “Truth, Decency, Utility” – from the nameplate. He enlarged the size of the paper's pages. Bache told his readers that he could not offer the variety of material originally intended as long as a “more important matter” was at hand. Later that year, Bache also dropped the words “Political, Commercial and Liberty Journal” from the nameplate. Increasingly polemical, the paper promoted political reforms in line with republican ideals.
Bache continued to denounce the Federalists and attacked both the current President, John Adams, and George Washington. He provoked outrage by suggesting that Washington had secretly collaborated with the British during the American Revolution. After passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1790, legislation supported by President Adams, Bache was arrested. The law may have been written to suppress opponents such as Bache. The persistent theme of Republican journalism of the 1790s was that the federal government had fallen into the hands of an aristocratic party aligned with Britain, and that the Federalists were hostile to the interests of the general public. Bache thought the problem was less the form of governance than the beliefs and behavior of those who governed. Bache objected to the US Senate's holding its meetings behind closed doors, as he thought that showed contempt for the public. He thought discussion about the Jay Treaty, for instance, should have been open to the public.
In November 1794, Bache said that he was renaming his paper, as The Aurora and General Advertiser; it was to “diffuse light within the sphere of its influence, dispel the shades of ignorance, and gloom of error and thus tend to strengthen the fair fabric of freedom on its surest foundation, publicity and information.” The name, “Aurora” represented the ascent and accessibility of information promised to its readers. Bache adopted the motto, “Surgo Ut Prosim” (I rise to be useful) to honor his grandfather. For Bache, the motto symbolized the dawning, not the setting of the sun on the new republic.
Read more about this topic: Benjamin Franklin Bache (journalist)
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