''The Independent'' was a weekly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

published in New York City between 1848 and 1928. It was founded in order to promote Congregationalism and was also an important voice in support of

abolitionism Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The Britis ...

and women's suffrage. In 1924 it moved to Boston, Massachusetts.

Publication history

Beginnings

From its founding in 1848 until 1861 ''The Independent'' was edited by a team of three prominent Congregational ministers: Joseph Parrish Thompson, Richard Salter Storrs, and Leonard Bacon. It was published and financed by a group of New York businessmen led by Henry C. Bowen of the silk wholesaling firm Bowen & McNamee. The editorial policy was strongly antislavery, which hurt the magazine's circulation initially, but it improved through the 1850s to reach 35,000 by the beginning of the American Civil War. In 1861

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and became best known for her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (1852), which depicts the harsh ...

's brother Henry Ward Beecher, who had been a regular contributor to the magazine, became its editor. His assistant editor was Theodore Tilton, who succeeded Beecher as editor in 1863 and remained in the position until 1870. During Tilton's tenure, ''The Independent'' took up the cause of women's suffrage. It also published poetry and literary contributions by authors including

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime. Born in County Durham, the eldest of 12 children, Elizabet ...

, Emma Lazarus,

John Greenleaf Whittier John Greenleaf Whittier (December 17, 1807 – September 7, 1892) was an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Frequently listed as one of the fireside poets, he was influenced by the Scottish poet ...

and James Russell Lowell. It reached its highest circulation of 75,000 in 1870, the year in which Tilton retired as editor.

Trends

Tilton was succeeded by Henry C. Bowen, who continued as both editor and publisher until his death in 1896, when William Hayes Ward became editor. Thereafter the magazine devoted less attention to religious affairs, and contained more political coverage and illustrations. This trend continued under the editorship of

Hamilton Holt Hamilton Holt (August 18, 1872 – April 26, 1951) was an American educator, editor, author and politician. Biography Holt was born on August 18, 1872 in Brooklyn, New York City to George Chandler Holt and his wife Mary Louisa Bowen Holt. His fat ...

(Bowen's grandson), a strong proponent of the

League to Enforce Peace The League to Enforce Peace was a non-state American organization established in 1915 to promote the formation of an international body for world peace. It was formed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia by American citizens concerned by the outbr ...

and later the League of Nations. During the second decade of the twentieth century ''The Independent'' absorbed three other magazines: ''The Chautauquan'' (1914), '' Harper's Weekly'' (1916), and ''Countryside'' (1917). A printers' strike in 1919 was damaging to the magazine, which struggled with rising costs and changed hands several times during the 1920s. In 1924 its last owners moved it to Boston but it remained unsuccessful. In 1928 ''The Independent'' was merged with ''The Outlook'' to form ''The Outlook and Independent''.

Footnotes

External links

* ''The Independent'' at the

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...

Record 1Record 2
Coverage begins with vol. 30, 1878. {{DEFAULTSORT:Independent, The 1848 establishments in New York (state) 1928 establishments in Massachusetts Abolitionism in the United States Defunct political magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1848 Magazines disestablished in 1928 Magazines published in Boston Magazines published in New York City Weekly magazines published in the United States