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1 History

Publisher John Calhoun was a Jacksonian Democrat, lured west at the end of 1833 from Watertown, New York to start the Democrat inspired by traveler's stories about Chicago after a series of newspaper business failures in his home state of New York. Printing paid better than newspaper publishing, but the paper was valuable to the new community both to boost the town and bring more people to it and to forward the affairs of its avowed political party.

Publishing a newspaper on the frontier was challenging. In May 1835 Calhoun issued a second prospectus that apologized for the paper's virtual disappearance over the previous four months and promised a new editor would upgrade the quality of news when the Democrat re-appeared. He cited a lack of available paper on which to print during the winter of 1834-1835. He did not cite, but presumably was responding to, the appearance of his first competition, the Chicago's AmericanChicago's American an afternoon newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, was the last flowering of the aggressive journalistic tradition depicted in the play and movie The Front Page''. Its first edition came out on the 4th of July, 1900 as Hearst’s Chicago Americ (sponsored by a rival political party, the WhigsThe United States Whig Party was a political party of the United States. The party was created in order to oppose the policies of Andrew Jackson and called itself the Whig Party by analogy with the English Whigs, who had opposed the power of the King in R).

In 1836Events January Book by Maria Monk claims that she was sexually exploited in a Canadian convent February 3 United States Whig Party holds its first convention in Albany, New York. February 23 The siege of the Alamo begins in San Antonio, Texas. February 24 Calhoun handed the paper over to a syndicate of Democratic politicians, perhaps in return for the party position to which he was appointed, Cook CountyCook County is a county located in the U. State of Illinois. As of 2000, the population is 5,376,741, making it the second largest county by population in the U. The county seat is Chicago, the principal city of its metropolitan area, Chicagoland. Cook Co Treasurer. The syndicate meanwhile hired "Long" John WentworthLong" John Wentworth ( March 5, 1815 October 16, 1888) was the editor of the Chicago Democrat a two-term mayor of Chicago, and a six-term member of the U. House of Representatives. Born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, John Wentworth was a huge man, towering 6, newly arrived in the city with solid Democratic credentials. Wentworth bought the paper outright from this syndicate within a few years.

Wentworth's rivals were probably at least partially correct when they accused him of printing more news about himself than the city. This strategy appears to have been successful, since Wentworth represented Chicago in CongressA congress is a gathering of people. Congress is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. A congress is different from a parliament in that legislative initiative is vested into it. In a co on and off throughout this period, and also served as mayorA mayor ( Latin major "better") is the chief executive official of a city, town, or village. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs as to the powers and responsibilities of a mayor, as well as the means of becoming mayor. The French of Chicago twice.

Lack of circulation figures for the Democrat makes it hard to know much about the paper's audience, but it seems likely that in the 1850s their number dwindled. The staff was kept small while the number of reporters at other papers grew, and the printing presses failed to keep up with the times and other newspapers such as the Chicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune self-styled as the World's Greatest Newspaper is the leading newspaper of the Midwest of the United States. Founded in 1847, the Tribune began as a Know Nothing paper. It consisted mostly of columns that were xenophobic, with constant (started in 1847).

Wentworth, owner of the Democrat, had become by the end of the 1850s a member of the new Republican Party — a turnabout that can be said, with some oversimplification, to have resulted from the politics of the years before the American Civil War when feelings about slavery caused shifting alliances and political turmoil throughout the country.

In 1861, just before the war started, Wentworth closed the Democrat. He said he was tired from his recent term as mayor and unable to continue after the death of his assistant, David Bradley. Others speculated he did not care to invest the money it would take to modernize and adequately cover the war many expected at any moment. A more pressing cause was a $250,000 libel lawsuit by another of Chicago's Old Settlers, J. Young Scammon . Scammon was angry because Wentworth had published a cartoon depicting him as a 'wildcat' banker (the fat cat in the picture wore a pair of Scammon’s distinctive spectacles).

Wentworth gave his subscription list to the Chicago Tribune, whose publishers induced Scammon to drop the suit in return. Wentworth’s political career went on but his paper was gone; although his own complete run of the paper was burned in the 1871 Chicago Fire, many issues are now available through the Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Public Library, and other repositories.