''The Independent'' was a weekly

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

published in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

between 1848 and 1928. It was founded in order to promote

Congregationalism Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

and was also an important voice in support of

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was France in 1315, but it was later used in its colonies. ...

and

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

. In 1924 it moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts.

Publication history

Beginnings

From its founding in 1848 until 1861 ''The Independent'' was edited by a team of three prominent Congregational ministers: Joseph Parrish Thompson, Richard Salter Storrs, and

Leonard Bacon Reverend Leonard Bacon (February 19, 1802 – December 24, 1881) was an American Congregational preacher and writer. He held the pulpit of the First Church New Haven and was later professor of church history and polity at Yale College. Biograph ...

. It was published and financed by a group of New York businessmen led by Henry C. Bowen of the silk wholesaling firm Bowen & McNamee. The editorial policy was strongly antislavery, which hurt the magazine's circulation initially, but it improved through the 1850s to reach 35,000 by the beginning of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. In 1861

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

's brother

Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the Abolitionism, abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery ...

, who had been a regular contributor to the magazine, became its editor. His assistant editor was Theodore Tilton, who succeeded Beecher as editor in 1863 and remained in the position until 1870. During Tilton's tenure, ''The Independent'' took up the cause of women's suffrage. It also published poetry and literary contributions by authors including

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...

Emma Lazarus Emma Lazarus (July 22, 1849 – November 19, 1887) was an American author of poetry, prose, and translations, as well as an activist for Jewish and Georgism, Georgist causes. She is remembered for writing the sonnet "The New Colossus", which wa ...

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

James Russell Lowell James Russell Lowell (; February 22, 1819 – August 12, 1891) was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the fireside poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets to r ...

and Edward Eggleston, who was also briefly supervising editor, in 1871. It reached its highest circulation of 75,000 in 1870, the year in which Tilton retired as editor.

Trends

Tilton was succeeded by Henry C. Bowen, who continued as both editor and publisher until his death in 1896, when

William Hayes Ward William Hayes Ward (June 25, 1835 – August 28, 1916) was an American clergyman, editor, and Orientalist. Biography William Hayes Ward was born in Abington, Massachusetts on June 25, 1835. After attending Berwick Academy in Maine, adjacent ...

became editor. Thereafter the magazine devoted less attention to religious affairs, and contained more political coverage and illustrations. This trend continued under the editorship of

Hamilton Holt Hamilton Holt (August 18, 1872 – April 26, 1951) was an American educator, editor, author and politician. He was President of Rollins College 1925 to 1949. Biography Holt was born on August 18, 1872, in Brooklyn, New York City, to George ...

(Bowen's grandson), a strong proponent of the

League to Enforce Peace The League to Enforce Peace was a non-state American organization established in 1915 to promote the formation of an international body for world peace. It was formed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia by American citizens concerned by the outbr ...

and later the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. During the second decade of the twentieth century ''The Independent'' absorbed three other magazines: ''The Chautauquan'' (1914), ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper (publisher), Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many su ...

'' (1916), and ''Countryside'' (1917). A printers' strike in 1919 was damaging to the magazine, which struggled with rising costs and changed hands several times during the 1920s. In 1924 its last owners moved it to Boston but it remained unsuccessful. In 1928 ''The Independent'' was merged with ''The Outlook'' to form ''The Outlook and Independent''.

Footnotes

External links

* ''The Independent'' at

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including websites, software applic ...

and the

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

1848 to 1928 scans
as catalogued by the University of Pennsylvania online library. {{DEFAULTSORT:Independent, The 1848 establishments in New York (state) 1928 establishments in Massachusetts Abolitionism in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1848 Magazines disestablished in 1928 Magazines published in Boston Magazines published in New York City Weekly magazines published in the United States