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ProQuest® Historical NewspapersHartford Courant

Winter 2006

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First Issue of The Connecticut CourantOctober 29,1764

Introducing…• Coverage years: 1764 -1984

- Weekly 1764 - 1837 - Daily 1838 - present

• The oldest continuously published newspaper in the U.S.

• One of the few sources available to trace the rebel cause during the American Revolution

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Older than the Nation…The Hartford Courant provides key content for important historical events.

The prelude to the American Revolution, including coverage of the Stamp Act, the Boston Tea Party and the American Declaration of Independence.

Early American Politics: Thomas Jefferson sued the newspaper for libel and lost.

Coverage of the years preceding and following the Civil War.

American Industry and Commerce in the 19th & 20th Century: Railroads and Steamships.

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Prelude to Revolution

“We hear from Boston that last Thursday evening, between 300 and 400 Boxes of the celebrated East-India Tea, by some ACCIDENT! which happened in an attempt to get it on shore, fell overboard -- That the Boxes burst open and the Tea was swallowed up by the vast Abyss.”

-- Connecticut Courant & Weekly Advertiser Coverage of the Boston Tea Party, December 21,1773

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“After the British capture of New York City, the Courant probably had the largest circulation of any paper on the continent and even ran its own paper mills to supply its needs.”

Christine Brendel Scriabine

-- Communications and the Media in Connecticut

First-hand information about key moments in American History

The Courant, May 5, 1777

Reference to General George Washington

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Slavery

• The Courant, through articles and advertisements, is a record of how much slavery was woven into the fabric of daily life in Northern states.

• The Courant profited from fugitive slave ads but also published opposition to the Fugitive Slave Act.

• Connecticut was the last state in

New England to free its slaves. Questions of complicity in the slave trade have swirled around The Courant.The Courant August 20, 1796

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Joining the Party of Lincoln

The slavery debate

takes center stage. Lincoln arouses

Hartford with a speech.

A captivated Courant goes Republican for more than a century.

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An Apology from The Courant

"We are not proud of that part of our history and apologize for any involvement by our predecessors at The Courant in the terrible practice of buying and selling human beings that took place in

previous centuries." The Hartford Courant July 4, 2000

The Courant,October 31, 1785

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Benefits of Adding The Courant to Your Collection

• Cross-Searchable with all other Historical Newspaper titles– Also with the American Periodical Series

• Journals and magazines (1741 – 1900)• Unparalleled span of American history,

politics, culture and commerce from 1764 to 1984

• Coverage of pivotal moments in American History, including the Revolutionary and Civil Wars

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Historical Newspapers

Thank you for your time!

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