Reconstruction and the Press: Debating Defamation, 1870–1876

This article traces how the press in the United States during the second half of Reconstruction, from 1870 to 1876, debated the merits and drawbacks of defamation law. These debates occurred within diverse newspapers across the country, spurred by Southern papers accusing the Northern press of engaging in defamation against the South. By providing a window into the nuances of journalistic debates over defamation in one of the most tumultuous periods in United States political history, this article reveals how diverse newspapers weighed the benefits of defamation law against their concerns for press freedom. Journalists in both the North and the South recognized the significance of defamation law. They differed, however, in that the Northern press also acknowledged how some journalists in the South might use defamation suits to squash criticism, while the Southern press largely prioritized defending its reputation from Northern critiques. This discourse paralleled mid-twentieth-century debates over press freedom in the advent of the New York Times v. Sullivan decision. The article concludes that the parallels between the 1870s and 1960s provide a new framework to help defend Sullivan against recent critiques from the Supreme Court.