Over a full page of news from America...
Item # 710441
December 28, 1786
THE LONDON CHRONICLE, England, Dec. 28, 1786 The front page is mostly taken up with an article: "Elements of the Science of Ethics on the Principles of Natural Philosophy" which references the Cherokee Indians.
Pages 3 & 4 contain over a full page of news reports headed: "American News" with much concerning the Shays' Rebellion, plus trouble with Indians, and other news items as seen in the photos.
Eight pages, 8 1/2 by 11 1/4 inches, great condition.
background: The December 28, 1786, issue of The London Chronicle serves as a poignant historical snapshot of a young United States teetering on the edge of collapse, framed through the skeptical lens of its former colonial master. The front-page inclusion of John Bruce’s work on the "Science of Ethics" reflects the Enlightenment-era obsession with categorizing human nature, using the Cherokee as a philosophical benchmark to debate whether morality is an inherent "natural law" or a product of European-style "civilization." This intellectual theorizing stands in stark, gritty contrast to the "American News" on the interior pages, which details the chaotic reality of Shays' Rebellion. By documenting the armed uprisings of disgruntled farmers in Massachusetts and the bloody skirmishes on the frontier, the Chronicle provided its British readers with a narrative of American failure, suggesting that without the stabilizing hand of the British Monarchy, the nascent republic was devolving into the very state of "natural" anarchy the front-page philosophers so fervently analyzed.
Pages 3 & 4 contain over a full page of news reports headed: "American News" with much concerning the Shays' Rebellion, plus trouble with Indians, and other news items as seen in the photos.
Eight pages, 8 1/2 by 11 1/4 inches, great condition.
background: The December 28, 1786, issue of The London Chronicle serves as a poignant historical snapshot of a young United States teetering on the edge of collapse, framed through the skeptical lens of its former colonial master. The front-page inclusion of John Bruce’s work on the "Science of Ethics" reflects the Enlightenment-era obsession with categorizing human nature, using the Cherokee as a philosophical benchmark to debate whether morality is an inherent "natural law" or a product of European-style "civilization." This intellectual theorizing stands in stark, gritty contrast to the "American News" on the interior pages, which details the chaotic reality of Shays' Rebellion. By documenting the armed uprisings of disgruntled farmers in Massachusetts and the bloody skirmishes on the frontier, the Chronicle provided its British readers with a narrative of American failure, suggesting that without the stabilizing hand of the British Monarchy, the nascent republic was devolving into the very state of "natural" anarchy the front-page philosophers so fervently analyzed.
Category: The 1600's and 1700's




















