Hezekiah Niles letters to Mathew Carey

American economist, editor and publisher Hezekiah Niles (1777-1839) created and contributed to the Weekly Register, which prefigured the national news magazine in its content and circulation.

Born into a Quaker family in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Hezekiah Niles grew up in Wilmington, Delaware. In 1805, Niles began his publishing career with the short-lived literary magazine, Apollo, in Philadelphia. After moving to Baltimore, he bought the Baltimore Evening Post. In 1811, the first issue of the Niles Weekly Register, later known as Niles' National Register, appeared. The national news magazine gained a wide audience, notably including Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), James Madison (1751-1836), and Andrew Jackson (1767-1845).

Niles attempted to influence politics and economics through his writing, promoting a form of nationalism that held to political isolationism, capitalist democracy, and protectionist tariffs for manufacturers. Directing much of his advice at the American South, he argued for a dramatic shift away from the plantation economy, supporting the diversification of agriculture, and the eventual emancipation of slavery. Through the transformation of the Southern economy, he hoped to resolve tensions between North and South and unify the United States.

After an accident and a stroke that left him paralyzed, Hezekiah Niles retired to Wilmington, Delaware, where he died in 1839.

Zeigler, Stephen M. "Niles, Hezekiah." American National Biography Online. http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-01202.html (accessed March 24, 2015).

The newspaper career of Irish-born publisher and economist Mathew Carey (1760-1839) extended from his early years penning critiques of British rule to his later work on a unifying American nationalism. Along with Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) and Hezekiah Niles (1777-1839), Carey paved the way for the American nationalist school of economic thought.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1760, Mathew Carey published his first essay, a critique of dueling, when he was seventeen years old. A controversial writer, Carey was sent to Paris in 1781 by his family to escape persecution after a reward was put on his head for his articles criticizing British Parliament. There he met Benjamin Franklin and briefly worked at Franklin's printing office. Upon his return to Ireland the next year, he was quickly embroiled in another controversy while directing the Volunteer's Journal, a publication that supported Irish autonomy from England. In the midst of legal troubles, Carey fled to the United States in 1784.

Carey continued to be involved in the publishing business in Philadelphia. He began launched the newspaper the Pennsylvania Herald in 1785, the monthlyColumbian Magazine in 1786, and the American Museum in 1787. He married Bridget Flahavan in 1791, and he was elected a director of the Bank of Pennsylvania a year later. Carey used his writing to advocate for his economic principles, including protection of manufacturers. He also tried to influence politics, particularly in the Olive Branch (1814), which attempted to reunite the Federalist and Republican parties.

Although Carey did not leave behind a political or economic system, he was a catalyst for the American nationalist school, particularly through his son Henry Charles Carey (1793-1879).

Green, James N. "Mathew Carey." American National Bibliography Online. http://www.anb.org/articles/16/16-00253.html (accessed March 24, 2-15)."Mathew Carey." Dictionary of American Biography (reproduced in Biography in Context). http://ic.galegroup.com/ (accessed March 24, 2015).