Rag Linen | Online Museum of Historic Newspapers

In 1783, several treaties of peace were signed to formally end the American Revolutionary War.  Since the war had become global, representatives of Great Britain first signed peace treaties with France and Spain in January of 1783. Then, in September, representatives of Great Britain signed the Treaty of Paris with the United States of America. John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay signed for the United States. As you can imagine, American newspapers packed their pages with content relating to the “Definitive Treaty” when it finally made its way across the Atlantic in October and November of 1783.  The Treaties of Peace 1783 collection contains the following items:

Gentleman’s Magazine (London) – February 1783
Full printing of the Preliminary Articles of Peace with France
Full printing of the Preliminary Articles of Peace with Spain
Full printing of the Provisional Articles of Peace with The Thirteen United States

Newport Mercury (Rhode Island) – May 10, 1783
Full printing of the Preliminary Articles of Peace with Spain
Extensive end-of-war reporting from across Europe and America
Major-General Baron de Steuben becoming a citizen of Pennsylvania

London Chronicle – September 27 to 30, 1783
Full printing of the Definitive Treaty of Paris

Connecticut Journal – October 1, 1783
Excitement stirs as news of the signed peace treaty nears

Pennsylvania Packet – November 1, 1783
News that the “Definitive Treaty” is signed arrives (with rare 18th century headline)

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution stating:

“That the flag of the Thirteen United States be Thirteen Stripes, alternate red and white: That the union be Thirteen Stars white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”

The brief article pictured above was published in the lower right-hand corner of the third page of the May 10, 1783 issue of the Newport Mercury (Rhode Island). This particular issue contains extensive coverage of the peace treaties being negotiated in France so this stars and stripes reminder was published at a time of tremendous American patriotism.

Since the Flag Resolution of 1777 didn’t specify the arrangement of stars, several designs were used including the three pictured below.

The Culper Spy Ring was a professional network of 20 spies managed by Benjamin Tallmadge of the 2nd Connecticut Light Dragoons under orders of General George Washington. The Culper Ring’s mission, according to Wikipedia: Infiltrate British-controlled New York City and report troop dispositions and intentions, and conduct covert operations throughout the American Revolutionary War.

As P.K. Rose points out in The Founding Fathers of American Intelligence, the Culper Spy Ring was the most professional of Washington’s agent networks. However, beyond the Culper Ring, “Washington had numerous other agents reporting on enemy activities in New York City. Among them [was] James Rivington, a prominent Tory newspaper publisher.”

“Jemmy Rivington’s Tory newspaper, the Royal Gazette, was extremely critical of George Washington. However, Rivington was also a spy who passed along secrets of the British navy to colonial leaders. On one occasion, Rivington helped break a British code that almost surely saved American lives during one of the war’s earlier battles,” according to Infamous Scribblers: The Founding Fathers and the Rowdy Beginnings of American Journalism (Eric Burns, 2006).

Wikipedia states: “[Rivington] published one of the most famous Loyalist newspapers in the American colonies, while secretly supplying George Washington with information… Rivington, who opened a coffee-shop adjacent to his printing-house, would have been the last New Yorker suspected of playing the part of a spy for the Continentals, but he furnished Washington with important information. His communications were written on thin paper, bound in the covers of books, and conveyed to the American camp by agents that were ignorant of their service. The date of Rivington’s secret change of heart is disputed, but when New York was evacuated in November 1783, Rivington remained in the city, much to the general surprise. Removing the royal arms from his masthead, changed its title to Rivington’s New York Gazette and Universal Advertiser. But his business rapidly declined, his paper ceased to exist at the end of 1783.”

Pictured below is a rare 1783 issue of the Royal Gazette, printed by James Rivington, patriot spy.

A Googling of “John Hanson” reveals some controversy over whether he should be considered the first President of the United States, the third or just President of the Continental Congress (leaving the POTUS title for GW).

The fact is that John Hanson was indeed the first President of the Continental Congress elected under the terms of the Articles of Confederation, which were officially ratified by all 13 colonies on March 1, 1781.  The Articles of Confederation called for Congress “to meet on the first Monday in November, in every year,” (Article V), and gave Congress the authority “to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year” (Article IX).  Under these ratified Articles — the first constitution of the United States of America — John Hanson was elected on November 5, 1781.

Here is the brief but important report from the November 7, 1781 Freeman’s Journal (Philadelphia) announcing the election of what some historians recognize as the first President of the United States. To those who call Hanson the first, this is arguably the most important presidential report in newspaper history. Only the Pennsylvania Packet scooped this report with its own on November 6, 1781.

In an odd but Hanson-related note, the May 10, 1783 Newport Mercury (Newport, Rhode Island) published a report on page two clarifying the rumored death of John Hanson.  See below.