Michiel van Groesen, Professor of Maritime History at Leiden University, presented a talk on “An Ocean of Rumors: Newspapers and Information Management in the Atlantic World,” at Henry R. Luce Hall on Monday, February 18, 2019. The event was co-hosted by the European Studies Council and the Department of History.
During his presentation, Professor Groesen discussed a book he is currently working on, which will focus on the circulation of European news in the Atlantic world, starting around 1600 when the first printed newspaper began to emerge and ending around 1700 when Europe began to give up its monopoly on printed serial news with the appearance of the Boston Newsletter, the first Colonial-American newspaper. The first chapter of the book, which Professor Groesen has titled “News before Newspapers,” will focus on handwritten newspapers and will set the scene for a discussion about the rise of printed newspapers in the following chapters.
Professor Groesen said his book will focus on breaking news stories, and not travel accounts or political pamphlets.
“The rise of the printed newspaper coincided with the rise of Atlantic interests which followed the establishment of the Dutch West India Company in 1621,” he said. “The Dutch capture of Salvador da Bahia in Brazil in 1624 should be considered a foundational moment for Atlantic news reporting in early modern Europe… newspapers far and wide were hooked on the story.”
According to Professor Groesen, this particular story line kept readers across Europe interested for almost three decades. In addition to the struggle for Brazil, Professor Groesen said, the book will chronicle how printed newspapers covered Oliver Cromwell’s Western Design — the project to conquer the Spanish West Indies that brought Jamaica into the English colonial orbit — among other campaigns and conflicts. The Western Design was particularly difficult to cover by European journalists because of the secrecy surrounding it, he added.
“The Western Design like the battle for Brazil before it really demonstrates the emergence of what we can call a public Atlantic world,” Professor Groesen said.
Concluding the presentation, Professor Groesen said he has a fairly clear idea about the first three chapters of his book and that he may write an epilogue on the influence of European newspapers on the early American Press. He added that he also hopes to write a chapter on the Darien scheme, the failed Scottish plan to create a colony in what is now Panama.
The presentation was followed by a Q&A session with members of the audience.
By Zainab Hamid