Scandal and Civility: Journalism and the Birth of American Democracy

(Oxford University Press) The author examines the new breed of journalists that came to the fore in post-revolutionary America and their influence on the making of political democracy in the early republic. In his portraits of William Cobbett, Noah Webster, William Duane, and others, the author argues that these partisan journalists were instrumental in igniting vital debates over the character of political leaders, the nature of representative government, and the role of the free press. Daniel is an associate professor of American history at the University of Hawaii in Manoa.