Editor's Desk
A Climate of Fear
By Ken Anderson
Mar 22, 2005 - 10:19:00 PM

Every now and then, I receive a comment from someone questioning our policy of publishing anonymous letters to the editor, or articles written under a pseudonym. The prevailing theme of these comments is that we shouldn't publish such letters or articles. This is understandable, and I can both understand and support newspaper policies against publishing anonymous letters. However, this is not the policy of the Magic City Morning Star, and I will argue that American tradition supports us in this.

If not for the use of pen names, our monetary system would probably be in pounds and shillings rather than dollars. The political debate that led to the American Revolution and the ratification of the United States Constitution was waged under pseudonyms, published not only in newspapers throughout the colonies, but in pamphlets that were widely circulated.

In "The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution," Harvard University historian Bernard Bailyn estimates that more than four hundred pamphlets discussing America’s grievances against the Crown were published in the colonies between 1750 and 1776. Publication continued through the Revolution. By the time the War of Independence ended in 1783, the number of pamphlets had grown to fifteen hundred.

Often published under pseudonyms and circulated by hand from one patriot to the next, these pamphlets constituted a true underground medium. "It was in this form - as pamphlets - that much of the most important and characteristic writing of the American Revolution appeared," writes Bailyn.

What was the central point of these newspaper articles and pamphlets? Conspiracy theories, of course.

Just as we do here today, the Founding Fathers had a hard time getting Americans to see the big picture. Far too many of the colonists failed to connect the dots. Here and there, some particular act of the King or of Parliament might annoy or inconvenience them, but most Americans failed to see the underlying pattern or logic to these events. They failed to see that one bad law led to another, and that sooner or later liberty itself would be snatched away.

The anonymous revolutionary pamphleteers helped Americans connect the dots. They helped the average colonist see the greater plan or conspiracy that lay behind such seemingly random and unrelated legislation as the "Stamp Act," the "Tea Act," the "Massachusetts Government Act," the "Quartering Act," and so on.

The historical evidence indicates that early American patriots opposed attempts to require that anonymous authors reveal their identities on the grounds that forced disclosure violated the "freedom of the press."

There is little doubt that the Founders engaged in anonymous political writing. The essays in the Federalist Papers, published under the pseudonym of "Publius," are only the most famous example of the outpouring of anonymous political writing that occurred during the ratification of the Constitution. John Jay, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton shared the pen name "Publius" when they wrote the Federalist Papers.

Alexander Hamilton wrote several newspaper essays using a variety of pen names taken from characters from ancient Rome.

Benjamin Austin, a Baptist minister and author of some of the Federalist Papers, wrote under the pseudonym "Candidus."

Benjamin Franklin often wrote under pseudonyms, including "Silence Dogood," "the Busy-Body," "Obadiah Plainman," "Robin Good-fellow," and of course, "Poor Richard." Franklin frequently used the name "Richard Saunders," the same pseudonym as he had used when he wrote "Poor Richard's Almanack," which was first published in 1732. As Richard Saunders, Franklin was given both the freedom to express his thoughts and the freedom to do so with dramatic license.

Samuel Adams, perhaps the most effective rabble-rouser in American history, was known to incite riots with his articles, published under several pen names so that the British would think that their opposition was stronger than it really was at the time.

John Adams, our second president, often used the pseudonym "Novanglus" when he wrote, but he was published frequently by the Boston Gazette under the name "Clarendan."

John Leland, a Baptist minister and American patriot, wrote under the pseudonym of "Jack Nipps."

John Carroll, the first Bishop of our nation, used the alias "Pacificus" for his documents.

These are just a few examples. Our founding fathers, as well as others who were deeply involved in the events that led up to the American Revolution and the founding of the United States of America, used pseudonyms often, and for a variety of reasons. One significant reason was to avoid being arrested by the British.

We are in similar situation here. While we were trying to get people to come into the town office to sign the petitions calling for the recall of Councilors Matt Polstein, Gail Fanjoy, and Avern Danforth, very few people that I spoke to were unwilling to see them removed from office, yet very few were brave enough to risk signing their name to a petition. And for good reason, as many of those who did were punished for it.

Yes, I wish that there were more people around here who had the guts to stand up for what they believe in, particularly since I am convinced that most of the people here know that the things that are going on are wrong, and would like to see something done about it..

But they are afraid. They are afraid for themselves, their families, jobs, homes, and camps. They are afraid of having their names published in the newspaper. They are afraid of being ridiculed in the press, and even in church. They are afraid of the sheer hatred that is likely to be directed their way if they dare to defy the folks at MAGIC. They are afraid of their businesses being destroyed, of customers and even vendors being warned away from doing business with them, and I know from personal experience that these fears are not at all unwarranted. Some are even afraid for their lives.

So, the Magic City Morning Star will continue to publish letters anonymously when that is requested, because to do otherwise would be to further stifle the voice of the people of Millinocket. Our readers, of course, are free to give more or less credibility to anonymous letters than to those which are attributed.

Editor's Note: For the really paranoid, we offer a submission form which sends your letter, article, or information to us anonymously, so that we don't even have your email or ISP identifying information.