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Chronicling America
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Newspaper The Daily Republic (Washington, D.C.) 1853-1853 Republic

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About The Daily Republic (Washington, D.C.) 1853-1853

Established on June 13, 1849, as the official organ of President Zachary Taylor, the Republic was a Whig paper published by Gideon & Company. The paper published simultaneous daily morning, weekly and tri-weekly editions during its tenure. As the administration’s organ, the Republic stated in its prospectus in the May 29, 1849 issue that it would be “a political newspaper, devoted to the liberalizing and progressive doctrines which prevailed in the late presidential canvass” and “[t]he Republic will acknowledge no allegiance except to the country.” When this paper was chosen to be the official party organ, the Daily National Whig suffered. The Sun reported in its June 14, 1849 issue that, “[t]he Republic contains the government advertisements, so that the question as to the choice between it and the Whig, is settled. In fact, the National Whig did not appear to-day. It died and left no sign. It gave no notice of its impending dissolution.”

A series of letters between President Taylor and his brother-in-law J.S. Allison that became known as the “Allison letters,” were published in the Republic and gave it an edge over its competitors. In them, Taylor pretended not to have political or partisan ambitions, presenting himself as a true outsider. The letters are first referred to in the Republic’s prospectus on June 13, 1849. It states, “[t]he principles upon which the present Administration came into power are embodied in a letter written by its distinguished chief, pending the last Presidential election, and known throughout the canvass as the first Allison letter.” The controversy surrounding the letters, and how they were made public, likely by Allison himself, was highlighted in contemporary papers.

The Republic featured local and global news, distributed timely party news, and reported on important political events. Occasional supplements announced important military or congressional contract proposals, such as the “extract from act of Congress March 3, 1845” proposal for carrying the mail in New England.

The Republic was initially edited by Alexander C. Bullitt.  Bullitt had gained this position because of his previous involvement with Taylor. Just after the Republic was established, the Semi-weekly Union noted in its June 29, 1849 issue, “[t]he senior editor of the Republic came on to this city with [General Taylor]; and as he had the reputation of writing the Allison letters, which the General signed… public rumor pointed him out as one of the editors of the forthcoming organ.”

Another editor, Harvard graduate John O. Sargent (1811-1891), was a renowned author, scholar, politician, and lawyer. According to his obituary in the January 4, 1892 issue of the Harvard Crimson, during his lifetime, he wrote for and edited a number of journals and other newspapers in addition to the Republic including the Boston Atlas, Collegian, The Battery, and Morning Courier and New-York Enquirer. A member of the Whig party, he supported the Taylor and Fillmore administrations. Under his editorship, The Republic continued to reflect the Whig political views of its origins in the June 13, 1849 issue: “with equal willingness do we subscribe to the doctrine that war at all times, and under all circumstances is a national calamity to be avoided if compatible with national honor.” The newspaper advocated the improvement of American infrastructure and social welfare, in hopes of uniting the North and the South economically and avoiding future conflict. The newspaper also opposed American involvement in international affairs.

Bullitt and Sargent continued to edit the paper until May 15, 1850, when Allen A. Hall took over. Joseph H. Parks wrote in his article, “John Bell and the Compromise of 1850,” in the Journal of Southern History 1943 that the previous editors were forced to resign because “[w]hen the Republic … came out in favor of compromise and attempted to show that the committee’s proposals differed from the President’s plan in detail only, Taylor became so angry as to demand a change in editors of the establishment of a new organ.” Allen A. Hall, assistant secretary of the treasury and a former Nashville editor, then became the editor. Not long after the death of President Taylor, Sargent began editing again with Bullitt as a silent partner, noted by William O. Lynch, in his article “Zachary Taylor as President” in the Journal of Southern History, 1938.

By 1853, the Republic suffered from low circulation and published its last issue June 30. After a brief hiatus, it was reformatted as the Daily Republic, which survived only a few weeks longer, from July 6, 1853 to Aug. 27, 1853.

Provided By: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

About this Newspaper

Title

  • The Daily Republic (Washington, D.C.) 1853-1853

Other Title

  • Republic

Dates of Publication

  • 1853-1853

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Gideon & Co., 1853.

Headings

  • -  Washington (D.C.)--Newspapers
  • -  Washington (D.C.)
  • -  United States--District of Columbia--Washington

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily (except Sunday)
  • -  Vol. 5, no. 1 (July 6, 1853)-v. 5, no. 46 (Aug. 27, 1853).
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.

Medium

  • 1 volume ; 55-62 cm

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn82014166

OCLC Number

  • 8766570

ISSN Number

  • 2471-626x

Preceding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

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. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

The Daily Republic Washington, D.C. 1853 to 1853. (Washington, DC), Jan. 1 1853. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014166/.

APA citation style:

(1853, January 1) The Daily Republic Washington, D.C. 1853 to 1853. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/sn82014166/.

MLA citation style:

The Daily Republic Washington, D.C. 1853 to 1853. (Washington, DC) 1 Jan. 1853. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn82014166/.