Page:History of Journalism in the United States.djvu/161



The war is ended, and there has come into existence a nation in which the liberty of the press is one of the canonical principles. During the brief period from the time of achieving independence to the adoption of the Constitution, there are to be severe tests of the metal of the people—it is to prove indeed the critical period in American history. It is unique in history as a period in which there was little other government than that by public opinion. The glory of that period was the adoption of a constitution that has made the American Republic a leader among nations.

With the protection and encoura.gement of the press as one of the fundamental principles of the new nation, its history is now one of development, and of participation in the development of the government.

With the end of the war there came an end, of course, to the Loyalist press. To a great extent, it might be said that the patriotic press also passed away—not physically, but as a political power—for new conditions brought new problems and with these problems new men