The ''Pennsylvania Packet and the General Advertiser'' was an American newspaper founded in 1771 that, in 1784, became the first successful daily newspaper published in the United States. The paper was founded by John Dunlap as a weekly paper in late 1771. It was based in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

except during the

British occupation The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

of the city in 1777–1778, when Dunlap published the paper at Lancaster. David C. Claypoole eventually became a partner with Dunlap. As of September 21, 1784, the paper was issued as the ''Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser'', reflecting the paper's move to daily publication. The paper subsequently underwent additional name changes, dropping the ''Pennsylvania Packet'' prefix in 1791, and becoming ''Dunlap's American Daily Advertiser'' (1791–1793), ''Dunlap and Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser'' (1793–1795), and ''Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser'' (1796-1800). On September 21, 1796, it was the first to publish

George Washington's Farewell Address Washington's Farewell Address is a letter written by American President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States. He wrote it near the end of his second term of p ...

. In 1800, Zachariah Poulson purchased the paper and renamed it ''Poulson's American Daily Advertiser''. In 1825, the

Marquis De Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...

granted an interview to "Poulson's Advertiser" during his famous visit to the United States. Poulson ran the paper for almost 40 years, and at end of 1839 sold out to the owners of the recently founded ''

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

''. The ''North American'' featured the 1771 founding of the ''Packet'' as its heritage. To the extent it can honestly be traced past this point, the final successor of the ''Packet'' can be said to be ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''.Watson, John Fanning
Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in Olden Time, Vol. 2
p. 34-35 (1844)Scharf, J. Thomas and Wescott, Thompson
History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884, Volume 3
p. 1966-68 (1884) Lee, Alfred McClung
The Daily Newspaper in America: The Evolution of a Social Instrument
p.169-70 (1937)

References

Newspapers established in 1771 Defunct newspapers published in Pennsylvania Defunct newspapers of Philadelphia 1771 establishments in Pennsylvania Publications disestablished in 1840 1840 disestablishments in the United States Newspapers of colonial America {{Pennsylvania-newspaper-stub

See also

References