The Federalist Press

It was not just the Democratic-Republicans who used the press to obliterate their opponents. Supported by Alexander Hamilton, the Gazette of the United States was the leading Federalist newspaper of the late 18th century. With its motto, “He that is not for us, is against us," the Gazette defended the Federalist Party while criticizing the Democratic-Republicans. Often, these newspapers would run attacks against each other. The Federalist Gazette, in defending attacks on George Washington, called a writer of the rival National Gazette “a dog, a rat, a mouse . . . an ape with a ‘clumsy quill.’”

Federalist newspapers openly attacked Thomas Jefferson. The Connecticut Courant claimed that Jefferson’s support of France would create anarchy in America. The father of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was labeled as one of the most “artful, intriguing, industrious and double-faced politicians in all of America.”

As attacks mounted against Jefferson during the contentious election of 1800, the political leader who had touted the importance of the free press claimed, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.”

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