Agenda Setting in Antebellum Tennessee

(Archives)


AGENDAS PREWARTN

Date:         Sun, 19 Dec 93 23:22:09 EST
From:         S. Kittrell Rushing 
Subject:      Agenda Setting In Antebellum Tennessee
To:           Robert Alan Harris 


                   Agenda-Setting in Antebellum Tennessee


                            S. Kittrell Rushing
                 The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
                             November 30, 1993

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An early version of this paper was presented to a meeting of mass
media historians during a conference on Antebellum Press and Free
Expression, The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, November 5
and 6, 1993.

Six charts or tables were removed from the analysis of data
section of this version of the paper in order to facilitate
uploading to the H-CivWar discussion group on the Internet.  A
version of the paper containing the tables is available by mail
from:
               S. Kittrell Rushing
               Communication Department
               University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
               615 McCallie Ave.
               Chattanooga, Tennessee 37403
               (615) 755-4400
               FAX (615) 755-4695
               Internet: krushing@utcvm.utc.edu

A version of the paper containing tables is in review for
presentation at the Spring, 1994, regional meeting of the
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
(AEJMC), Historical Division.


         AGENDA SETTING IN ANTEBELLUM TENNESSEE

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                             Introduction

East Tennessee during the secession crisis provides an opportunity
to explore the use of modern mass communication theories better to
understand the historical relationships between a society and its
media.  Southern antebellum newspapers supposedly exercised a
great deal of power during the 1860-1861 secession crisis.
Abraham Lincoln and his RBlack RepublicansS were so despised in
the South that neither the party nor Lincoln were on Southern
statesU ballots.  The election contest in the South was between
Constitutional Union candidate John Bell and the candidate of the
southern splinter of the Democratic Party, John Breckinridge.  A
standard interpretation of the crisis period between LincolnUs
1860 election and the 1861 move to secession is that Southern
newspapers led the way in altering Southern attitudes toward the
Union (Reynolds 1970).

East Tennessee did not follow willingly into secession although
the region supported neither Lincoln nor the Northern Democratic
candidate, Stephen Douglas.  The section voted Constitutional
Union in 1860 and voted heavily against secession in the election
of 1861.

East Tennessee was less dependent on slavery than most of the
South, and during the secession crisis most East Tennesseans
apparently saw little future in supporting Southern independence.
In the June, 1861, election East Tennesseans voted two-to-one
against secession; and after Tennessee officially seceded, most
East Tennesseans rejected the authority of the Southern
Confederacy (Bryan 1988).

The influence of East Tennessee newspapers on public opinion is
difficult to gauge 150 years after the fact, but at least two
benefits result from the effort.  If one applies twentieth century
agenda-setting theory to nineteenth century press influence,
understanding the relationship between the antebellum press and
its readership may become more clear.  The second value of looking
at the links between a nineteenth century culture and its media is
a new understanding or appreciation for twentieth century press-
culture relationships.


                           Review of Literature

The majority of nineteenth century newspaper readers knew their
editors and generally thought of them as well informed.  Country
people, especially, trusted the judgment of their community's
newspaper editor and accepted editorial slanting as a matter of
course (Clark 1948).

Small town editors of the nineteenth century often fit easily into
twentieth century definitions of two-step flow theory.
Lazarsfeld, Berelson, and Gaudet hypothesized that ideas flow from
print to opinion leaders and from the opinion leaders to less
socially or politically involved sections of the population
(Lazarsfeld, Berelson et al. 1948).  Nineteenth century southern
editors were close to their readers.  The editors shared the
peopleUs prejudices and respected their mores (Clark 1948).  The
influence of the editor on local opinion was more personal than
formal editorializing. Clark believed that editors were active,
engaged members of their communities.  They were part of the
Southern social system's elite.  They were opinion leaders.
However, the consequences could be strong when the editors moved
in a direction not in keeping with prevailing attitudes and
beliefs.  Moderate Chattanooga Gazette editor James Hood gave up
his newspaper and left Chattanooga because, as he remembered it,
his political views were not acceptable to fellow citizens who
Rruled the roostS (McGehee 1988).

Southern sympathizers accused Knoxville Whig publisher William
"Parson" Brownlow of treason and libel and threatened him with
lashings, tar and feathers, and death.  The Parson, a loyal,
aggressive Union man, was a supporter of slavery.  As a result he
received criticism  from abolitionists as well as from
secessionists (Humphrey 1978).  Unlike Hood, Brownlow kept
publishing until jailed by the Confederates.

Modern readers tend to select information that supports their own
point of view (Burns and Peltason 1968).  This twentieth century
observation is an important element when one assesses nineteenth
century media impact.  Twentieth century readers tend to pay
attention to information that supports what they already believe.
Nineteenth century readers probably reacted not too differently.
Modern research findings seem to support mutual influence and
mutual reinforcement between audience and media.  Don Reynolds,
writing about nineteenth century readers and media observed a
similar relationship (Reynolds 1970).

A relationship between voting behavior and editorial slant should
be identifiable if newspapers did, in fact, influence voters
during the crisis.  If, as some scholars contend, antebellum
newspapers exercised great power in swaying public opinion;
newspaper influence may be identifiable through an analysis of
voting behavior and editorial positions of local newspapers.


                             Methodology

Results from the presidential election of 1860 and the secession
election of June, 1861, are available for 28 East Tennessee
counties.  Fairly accurate counts of the number of antebellum
newspapers published in East Tennessee exist, and of those
newspapers publishing during the crisis some evidence remains of
their political slant.

The method used to explore a relationship between East Tennessee
newspapers and voting behavior was  (1) to determine if a
relationship existed between the election returns of 1860 and
1861, and (2) to compare the number of newspapers in a county and
the political slant of the newspapers with the county's voting
behavior.

Relatively few East Tennessee newspapers remain from the years
just preceding the outbreak of hostilities.  Of those preserved,
no concrete way exists to determine the actual circulation.
However, examination of the existing papers does often reveal the
political slant of the editor.


                            Analysis of Data

According to information available from the Tennessee State
Archives, 16 newspapers existed in East Tennessee during the
secession crisisQ1860 and 1861.

Of those East Tennessee newspapers with an identifiable editorial
slant, six aligned with the Southern wing of the Democratic Party.
Three of the six, The Chattanooga Advertiser, Chattanooga
Reflector and the Cleveland Banner, published in the southern part
of the state.  Three of the Democratic papers, The Knoxville
Register, Jonesborough Union, and Greeneville Democrat were in the
northern part of the section.

Two of the six East Tennessee Whig papers, The Chattanooga Gazette
and the Athens Post, published in the southern portion of the
sector.  The other four Whig papers were located in upper East
Tennessee.  Three, all controlled in some way by the infamous
Parson Brownlow, originated in Knoxville (Humphrey, 1978).

The following table is a listing of East Tennessee counties, the
newspapers categorized by editorial slant, and the county by
county vote totals for the 1860 presidential election and the 1861
secession vote. The election data are from Verton M. Queener's
1941 article, "The Origin of the Republican Party in East
Tennessee" (Queener 1941).


       Newspapers and Editorial Slant 1860-1861 and 1860-1861 Vote


County    Whig     Dem     Slant      Dem       Whig      Secession     Union
          Papers   Papers Unknown    Vote       Vote         Vote        Vote
                                     1860       1860         1861        1861

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blount     0        0       2        633        1261          418        1766

Bradley    0        1       2       1060         710          507        1382

Greene     0        0       4       2092        1048          744        2691

Hamilton   1        2       0        985        1074          854        1260

Jefferson  0        0       2        716        1623          603        1987

Knox       3        1       3       1087        2417         1226        3196

McMinn     1        0       0       1119         986          904        1144

Polk       0        0       1        888         396          738         317

Roane      0        0       2        882        1105          454        1568

Sullivan   0        0       1       1586         358         1586         627

Washington 1        1       2       1398         967         1022        1445



When comparing 1860 election returns with those from 1861 using a
t-test for paired samples, a value results indicating a
statistically significant relationship between the 1860 vote for
the Whig candidate and the 1861 vote against secession (t value =
-3.63, df = 10, 2-tail prob = .005) (Norusis 1990).

A similar significant relationship exists between the 1860
Democratic vote and the 1861 vote for secession (t value = 2.58,
df = 10, 2-tail prob = .027) (Norusis 1990).

In other words, the data indicate that counties voting Whig in
1860 tended to vote for Union in 1861, those counties voting
Democratic tended to vote for secession.  However, when one
attempts to analyze for the influence of newspapers on voting the
comparison is more difficult and a bit more subjective.

Nine Democratic newspapers were published in eight East Tennessee
counties during the crisisQBradley, Greene, Hamilton, Knox,
McMinn, Polk, Sullivan, and Washington.  Two papers were located
in Hamilton county.  No apparent relationship existed between the
presence of Democratic newspapers and the 1860 Democratic vote.
Cell values are too low (0 to 2) to undertake meaningful
statistical analysis of the relationship; however, visual
examination seems to indicate little relationship between the
presence of Democratic newspapers and vote totals.

A comparison of the 1860-1861 presence of Democratic newspapers
and the 1861 secession vote, again demonstrates little apparent
visual relationship exists between vote totals and the presence a
newspaper.

An interesting element in comparing the presence of newspapers and
the 1861 vote for union is the low union vote in McMinn, Polk, and
Sullivan counties.  The three are counties without Democratic
papers.  If the editorial slant of papers generated a heavy impact
on public opinion the vote for Union should be proportionally
higher in counties without Democrat leaning papers and lower in
those counties with a Democrat leaning publication.  That is  not
what one finds.

The heavily Whig characteristics of Knox county are apparent when
the presence of Whig leaning papers is compared to 1860 Whig vote
totals .  The comparison of county vote totals with Whig papers
appears to support the hypothesis that presence Whig leaning
newspapers would foster a higher Whig vote.

Knox county's outspoken newspaper publisher and editor, Parson
Brownlow, during the crisis operated at least three newspapers,
the Knoxville Whig, The Knoxville Whig and Independent Journal,
and Brownlow's Tri-Weekly Whig.  The county voted two to one for
John Bell, the Constitutional Union (Whig) candidate in the 1860
presidential election.  Knox county voters followed in June of the
next year by voting overwhelmingly against secession, 3,196 to
1,226.

When the number of Whig newspapers and the 1861 vote for secession
are compared, some relationship seems to exist between the number
of newspapers and voting patterns.  Interestingly, the direction
of the relationship goes against the expectedQWhig newspapers
should be related to a lessening of the secession vote.  The data
compared do not support the expectation.

A comparison of the vote for union and the number Whig newspapers
appears to fit expectations, with the exceptions of Bradley and
Greene counties.  That is, voting for the Union seems to be
related to the presence of Union supporting newspapers.



                            Summary and Conclusions

Some visible relationship seems apparent between the presence of
newspapers and secession crisis election returns.  However, the
direction of the relationship was not always as expected if
newspapers directly influenced voting behavior.

Counties that voted for the democratic presidential candidates
tended to vote for secession.  However, if newspapers were
directly related to public opinion, counties with a Democratic
newspaper should have exhibited a higher proportion of secession
votes than counties with Whig newspapers.  That was not the case.
Only one of six comparisons indicated a direct relationship
between newspapers and votingQthe apparent relationship between
Whig newspapers and the Whig vote of 1860.

Anecdotal information seems to support the observation that East
Tennessee mass media of the secession crisis reflected the
attitudes and values of the readers.  Editors who had to temerity
or courage to publish material not in sync with community
sentiment received threats and at least in one case left town.
The influence of a prominent, aggressive editor appears more
likely related to voter behavior than was the editorial slant of
the newspaper.

Statistical analyses of the vote results from the election of 1860
and 1861 indicate that a relationship between the two existed.
The conclusions one might draw about relationships between media
and public opinion are more tenuous.  The position argued in this
paper is that rather than fomenting the secession shift in the
South between the elections of 1860 and 1861, antebellum
newspapers reflected community discussion or, at best, Rset the
agendaS for the discussion.  With but one exception, East
Tennessee newspapers did not exercise visibly identifiable power
other than, perhaps, to encourage voter participation.  The
notable exception was the relationship between Whig newspapers and
Whig presidential election voting patterns.

Interpretation of twentieth century media influence based on
nineteenth century evidence may suggest twentieth century mass
media, although changed dramatically in appearance, reach, and
use, continue to reflect public opinion and foment discussion.
The evidence developed in this paper suggests  the editorial
positions of twentieth century mass media, like their antebellum
progenitors, probably do not sway dramatically attitudes and
beliefs of media users.  Perhaps, the variable of greater
influence is the social standing and community acceptance of the
editors, publishers, and  community leaders associated with a
publication.







                              Bibliography

Bryan, C. F., Jr. (1988). ToriesU Amidst Rebels: Confederate
Occupation of East Tennessee, 1861-1863. East Tennessee Historical
SocietyUs Publications, 60, 3-22.

Burns, J. M., & Peltason, J. W. (1968). Government by the People.
Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Clark, T. D. (1948). The Country Newspaper: A Factor in Southern
Opinion, 1865-1930. The Journal of Southern History, XIV(1), 3-33.

Cohen, B. C. (1963). The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.

Humphrey, S. (1978). "That D----d Brownlow," Being a Saucy &
Malicious Description of Fighting Parson William Gannaway
Brownlow, Knoxville Editor and Stalwart Unionist Who Rose from a
Confederate Jail to become One of the Most Famous Personages in
the Nation, Denounced by his Enemies as Vicious and Harsh, Praised
by his Friends as Compassionate and Gentle. Boone, North Carolina:
Appalachian Consortium.

Lazarsfeld, P. F., Berelson, B., & Gaudet, H. (1948). The People's
Choice. New York: Columbia University Press.

McCombs, M. E., & Shaw, D. E. (1972). The Agenda Setting Function
of the Mass Media. Public Opinion Quarterly, 36(Summer 1972), 176.

McGehee, C. S. (1988). The Property and Faith of the City:
Secession and Chattanooga. East Tennessee Historical SocietyUs
Publications, 60, 23-38.

Norusis, M. J. (1990). SPSS for Macintosh (4.01 ed.). Chicago:
SPSS Inc.

Queener, V. M. (1941). The Origin of the Republican Party in East
Tennessee. The East Tennessee Historical SocietyUs Publications,
13, 66-90.

Reynolds, D. E. (1970). Editors Make War: Southern Newspapers in
the Secession Crisis. Nashville: Vanderbilt University.


Information provider:
  Unit:    H-Net program at UIC History Department
  Email:   H-Net@uicvm.uic.edu
  Posted:  6 May 1994
.