Newspapers played a critical—perhaps a determinative—role in ratifying the Constitution. Between 1787 and 1790 ninety-five newspapers were printed throughout the United States—sixty-nine in Northern states and twenty-six in Southern states. Additionally four monthly magazines were also published in the North—the American Museum and the Columbian Magazine in Philadelphia, the American Magazine in New York City, and the Massachusetts Magazine in Boston.
Most newspapers were weeklies, a few biweeklies, and half a dozen dailies (none of which were printed on Sundays). Newspapers consisted of a single sheet of paper folded once to make four pages with each page set in two, three, or four columns. A masthead appeared at the top of the first page that included the newspaper’s title and subtitle, the printer’s name and address, the day of the week and date of publication.