The Year 1789 and Freedom of the Press
Peter Nevers
“Sire, that these two words, press and conscience, too unjustly and too long banned in
France, do not frighten Your Majesty. With wise laws, at the heart of a free people who
are rich, happy, cherishing their King, what consequences can the freedom of the press
have? Honor and glory of the nation: no other, Sire: general instruction, progress in
science and arts, in manufacturing, in commerce in general, useful discoveries, bold
attempts, all result from the freedom of the press” (21)
The unknown author of The Year 1789 spends much time in his “dialogue with
the king” speaking about the importance of freedom of the press and its importance to the
French people. The author states that “press and conscience” will bring only good things
to the king and people of France. Carl Patrick Burrowes’ article, “Property, Power and
Press Freedom: Emergence of the Fourth Estate, 1640-1789,” references the Four
Theories of the Press by Siebert, Peterson and Schramm. 1 Burrowes states that three of
the accounts ignore the radical press, which is interesting because the radical press was
responsible for pushing the limits to freedom of expression because of how it influenced
the excepted ways of thinking and legal limits. Harvey Chisick’s article “Pamphlets and
Journalism in the Early French Revolution” uses three accounts to gauge the opinion of
the public during the French Revolution. Pamphlets, cahiers de doléance, and periodical
press were these three accounts that Chisick states are important for the gauge the public
opinion, pamphlets being the least looked at by scholars. Suzanne Desan discusses in her
article, “Transatlantic Spaces of Revolution:
T he French Rand
Sciotomanie,
evolution,
American Lands” the effects of Sciotomanie on the early French Revolution. Desan states
that Sciotomanie had a major effect on French thought, especially in their Atlantic
1
Carl Patrick Burrowes, “Property, Power and Press Freedom: Emergence of the Fourth Estate, 16401789,” Journalism & Communication Monographs 13, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 4.
colonies. This new way of thinking brought about political dialogue that was never before
investigated and continued debates on French issues of the time, not only in the
homeland, but surprisingly also overseas. These three sources, Burrowes, Chisick, and
Desan, will help better understand the passage from the unknown author of The Year
1789. It is my opinion that though the unknown author believed that freedom of the press
would be good for France and their king, but because his work was prior to the major
events of the French Revolution, he could not have known that in the end freedom of the
press would result in much radical action by the revolutionaries and be on the whole, a
gateway to the Terrors of the later revolution rather than peaceful resolution.
Burrowes states in his article that the “claim that the production of rights occurs in
the realm of social relations, which have cultural, economic and political dimensions.” 2
Burrowes uses these themes throughout his article to show how the rights of the people of
France changed in accordance to the times. This can be related back to The Year 1789
source. The new rights that began during the French Revolution were a result of a new
way of thinking that was brought on by the freedom of the press. The unknown author’s
support for freedom of the press is apparent and makes him a proponent for new rights.
Burrowes also says in his article that “print culture” helped give rise to French
nationalism and from the rise of nationalism came a change from being “subjects” of the
king to “citizens” of France. The new idea of citizen brought together the privileged elite
to the commoner, but the “rights of man” were for the most part denied to people such as
women, men without property, Muslim and Jewish people, and those not born in France.
The denial of right to “non-citizens” gave way to racism, especially in the French
2
Burrowes, “Property, Power and Press Freedom,” 2.
Atlantic colonies and served as apparent justification for exploiting those who had no
access to the so-called “universal rights.” The spread of press in the French Revolution
gave way to a break from the monarchy even in language. That is why Burrowes’ article
does not support the unknown authors’ claim that good things will happen for the king
and the nation because the uncensored freedom of the press swayed the minds of the
revolutionaries away from being loyal “subjects” to independent citizens of France
during the Revolution. 3
Harvey Chisick states in his article that though historians do not look at pamphlets
as much as periodicals or even cahiers de doléance, pamphlets were used all the time to
supplement opinions published in the paper. 4 Chisick states that pamphlets predate
periodicals in the press during the French revolution, though periodicals came to be
dominant, they never fully took the place of pamphlets, which stood their ground as
powerful influencers of the French people of the time. Chisick describes pamphlets as “a
brief, self-contained publication directed at a specific issue, or fairly narrow range of
issues, which is intended to influence public opinion, and which is produced
unofficially.” 5 Pamphlets were mainly used for influencing thought on contemporary
issues. During the Old Regime the government would tell hired writers what to put in
pamphlets. This in part is what the unknown author of the primary source wanted to have
changed; he believed that true freedom of the press who be good for the king of France
and the country as a whole. The works of Jean-Sifrein Maury, which Chisick refers to in
3
Burrowes, “Property, Power and Press Freedom,” 37.
Harvey Chisick, “Pamphlets and Journalism in the Early French Revolution: The Offices of the Ami du
Roi of the Abbé Royou as a Center of Royalist Propaganda,” French Historical Studies 15, no. 4 (Fall
1988): 624.
5
Chisick, “Pamphlets and Journalism,” 626.
4
his article, support the thought that freedom of the press would be good for the king.
Maury sat in the Estates General and sided with the far right sentiment, the Ami du Roi
released pamphlets by Maury, through their offices, and his pamphlets followed a royalist
viewpoint when trying to sway public opinion. This free press was in favor of the king
and would support that the king could gain “Honor and glory of the nation” 6 through
allowing freedom of the press. It is also noteworthy that Maury came from a “modest
artisanal family” which would place Chisick’s work as more socially oriented and class
based, also is the only one of the three sources to use qualitative and quantitative sources.
In his account appears that he supports the unknown author more than the work of
Burrowes.
Burrowes’ argument can be viewed in the same light as that of Suzanne Desan.
She states in her article “Transatlantic Spaces of Revolution:
T he French R evolut
Sciotomanie, and American Lands” that Scioto, Ohio was the place where many French
people had settled to escape the absolute monarchy and gain opportunity in the new
world. In Scioto, there was much debate over the idea of revolution in light of what was
happening in the American colonies and that continuous debate gave way to new ways of
thinking that influenced opinions on the French Revolution. The period of time which
Desan writes about is in the years leading up to the French revolution. It is clear that this
article is trying to portray political themes, this is apparent because of France’s regard for
the Americas as a place where they could have “republican politics and entrepreneurial
possibility.” 7 Because they (the French people) knew that they could not have those
6
“The Year 1789,” 21.
Suzanne Desan, “Transatlantic Spaces of Revolution: The French Revolution, Sciotomanie, and American
Lands,” Journal Of Early Modern History 12, no. 6 (December 2008): 478.
7
things in their homeland because the absolute monarchy was still in power at this time.
The unknown author call for this in his dialogue with the king, saying that freedom of the
press can bring “progress in science and arts, in manufacturing, in commerce in general,
useful discoveries.” 8 As it got closer to the time of the French revolution, it became
unnecessary for the revolutionaries to leave for America as planed. As opinions in France
began to favor the ideas of the American Revolution, the Americas became the focal
point for those who were wishing to escape the radicalness of the inevitable Republic
controlled by revolutionaries. Desan’s article is a political history but it touches on many
issues. It shows both elite and common ideas on the use of the Americas, the elites being
more in favor before the revolution began and the commoners wishing to avoid the
conflict afterwards. Desan, like Burrowes, ties in how the Americas factored in the
French revolution, but Desan’s focus, from the French perspective is how most
effectively to use the Americas. I feel that the evidence Desan presents in her article
would likely support the unknown author’s ideals on freedom of the press, but this
particular freedom of the press would not please the king as it is geared towards
revolution.
The author of The Year 1789 attempts to assure the king that freedom of the press
would only benefit the French king, and kingdom. My argument that it would not benefit
the king and cause revolution is supported by two of my sources (Burrowes and Desan).
The unknown author’s claim that freedom of the press would bring good thing to the
French king is not accurate, specifically because if freedom of press were allowed the
French people would denounce the role of “subjects” to the king, and align themselves
8
“The Year 1789,” 21.
against him as “citizens” of France, a point that I agree with Burrowes on. Chisick
presents a good side to freedom of the press in pamphlets and periodicals and though
there could be royalist views it would only be a matter of time before public opinion
would be mainly against the monarchy. In reading The Year 1789 through the lens of the
three selected sources it is clear to me that the unknown author’s ideals would be too
radical put into practice in France and still be pro-monarchy. From 1789 until the end of
the revolution, the purpose of freedom of the press would be to help spread the seeds of
the revolution that would bring France from an absolute monarchy to a republic, but not
without a few obstacles along the way.