The ''Worcester Spy'', originally known as the ''
Massachusetts Spy
''The Massachusetts Spy'', later subtitled the '' Worcester Gazette'', (est. 1770) was a newspaper published by Isaiah Thomas in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, in the 18th century.
The newspaper was heavily political and found itself con ...
'', was a newspaper founded in 1770 in
Boston, Massachusetts
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 ...
by
Isaiah Thomas, dedicated to supporting the
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society.
Definition
The term—bot ...
cause against the British. In the 19th century, it became an organ for
abolitionist
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 Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...
sentiment.
History
In 1775, under threat from "Boston
Tories
A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The T ...
", Thomas removed the newspaper's presses to
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
. In 1781 the title was changed to ''Thomas's Massachusetts Spy; or the Worcester Gazette'' with the
motto
A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...
"The noble Efforts of a Virtuous, Free and United People, shall extirpate Tyranny, and establish Liberty and Peace." At the end of the war the motto was again changed to ''"Noscere res humanas est Hominis"'' ("knowledge of the world is necessary for every man").
Thomas continued publication of the paper until 1802, when he transferred control of his business concerns to his son.
In 1859 the paper was purchased by
John Denison Baldwin, and later co-owned and edited by his sons, Captain John Stanton Baldwin and Charles Clinton Baldwin.
In 2011, faculty and students in the English Department at Worcester State University launched the ''New Worcester Spy'', an on-line news and literary journal with the mission to "revive the great Worcester journalistic tradition of publishing brave stories that impart necessary, sometimes terrible, truths, for the edification of readers."
See also
*
History of American newspapers
The history of American newspapers begins in the early 18th century with the publication of the first Thirteen Colonies, colonial newspapers. American newspapers began as modest affairs—a sideline for printers. They became a political force i ...
The New Worcester Spy
References
*
Newspapers published in Boston
Defunct newspapers published in Massachusetts
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