The ''Worcester Spy'', originally known as the ''

Massachusetts Spy ''The Massachusetts Spy'', later subtitled the '' Worcester Gazette'', (est.1770) was a newspaper published by Isaiah Thomas in Boston and in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. It was a heavily political weekly paper that was constan ...

'' was a newspaper founded in 1770 in Boston, Massachusetts by Isaiah Thomas, dedicated to supporting the

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

cause against the British. In the 19th century, it became an organ for

abolitionist 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 British ...

sentiment.

History

In 1775, under threat from "Boston

Tories A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...

", Thomas removed the newspaper's presses to

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. In 1781 the title was changed to ''Thomas's Massachusetts Spy; or the Worcester Gazette'' with the

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. Mot ...

"The noble Efforts of a Virtuous, Free and United People, shall extirpate Tyranny, and establish Liberty and Peace." At the end of the war the motto was again changed to ''"Noscere res humanas est Hominis"'' ("knowledge of the world is necessary for every man"). Thomas continued publication of the paper until 1802, when he transferred control of his business concerns to his son. In 1859 the paper was purchased by

John Denison Baldwin John Denison Baldwin (September 28, 1809 – July 8, 1883) was an American politician, Congregationalist minister, newspaper editor, and popular anthropological writer. He was a member of the Connecticut State House of Representatives and lat ...

, and later co-owned and edited by his sons, Captain John Stanton Baldwin and Charles Clinton Baldwin. In 2011, faculty and students in the English Department at Worcester State University launched the ''New Worcester Spy'', an on-line news and literary journal with the mission to "revive the great Worcester journalistic tradition of publishing brave stories that impart necessary, sometimes terrible, truths, for the edification of readers."

History

References

See also