Richmond Enquirer (Richmond, Va.)
Historic newspapers carry the language, views and graphic reporting of their time, including racist content. They are shown to teen and adult profiles.
5,157 issues from 1815 to 1867, published in Richmond, Virginia, digitised for Chronicling America.
Published in Richmond, Virginia, from 1804 to 1877, the Richmond Enquirer, known simply as the Enquirer until 1815, played an influential role in American politics, both in Virginia and beyond. Declaring “Verité sans peur,” or “truth without fear,” in its masthead, the Richmond Enquirer prided itself as an organ of Jeffersonian Republicanism, and later as a strong supporter of the Democratic Party.
Founded in 1804 by Thomas Ritchie, the Enquirer had evolved out of the Examiner, a prominent Democratic-Republican newspaper published in Richmond from 1798 to 1804. The Enquirer was published semiweekly–triweekly during sessions of the Virginia legislature–and cost four dollars per subscription. On May 9, 1804, after procuring from Philadelphia “an entire new set of printing materials, to the amount of 1000 dollars,” as described in the Examiner, Ritchie, along with printer William W. Worsley, published the first issue of the Enquirer.
Ritchie’s Democratic views played a central role in his editorial approach, and the Richmond Enquirer, like most other newspapers of its time, was largely defined by political polarity. By using his press as a political platform, Ritchie became a prominent and influential figure in Virginia politics, acting as a key member of the “Richmond Junto,” a group of powerful Virginia Democratic-Republicans.
Lester J. Cappon, author of Virginia Newspapers 1821-1935, describe Ritchie as “one of the greatest editors of his day,” served as editor of the…
- Genres
- News
- Published in
- Richmond, Virginia, United States
- Language
- English
- Collection
- Chronicling America
- Licence or status
- None stated by the archive
- Rights
- The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.
- Credit
- Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities
- Who can read it
- Teens profiles and older (placed by Invisible Network from what the archive says; archives give no ratings)
- Archive
- Library of Congress