September 12th, 1829

An early issue of the Watchman and the Jamaican Free Press, the September 12th, 1829 released newspaper, is the main focus of the discussion and annotations that the Watchman Project contributors have chosen to work with. This issue was selected for its quality of coherence, in addition to the presence of letters to the Editor, which exhibits controversial debates and the kind of news that audience sends in. 

Annotations

Robert Osborn

Born April 5th 1800 to a Scottish planter and a Black mother, Robert Osborn, along with his co-author, Edward Jordon, established the Watchman and the Jamaican Free Press newspaper in 1829.1 As the newspaper grew in popularity, it grew increasingly more anti-slavery. In 1832, Osborn won a seat on the Kingston Common Council, and in 1835 he was elected to represent the St. Andrew in the Assembly, in which he stayed until it was dismantled in 1865. Osborn died April 1st, 1878 at the age of 78 in his daughter’s house.2

1. “Robert Osborn.” Robert Osborn of Jamaica Portrait and obituary, 2013. http://www.jamaicanfamilysearch.com/images/photos53.htm.

2. Ibid.

Analysis

Edward Jordan

Edward Jordan was one of the main editors of the Watchman and the Jamaican Free Press.1 He helped start ideas of anti-slavery concepts within the newspaper among the free people of Jamacia. Identified in contemporary sources as “mulatto”, Jordan used his social position and education to fight for racial equality. In 1832, he printed the words, “Knock off the fetters, and let the oppressed go free” in the Watchman and distributed it, which carried the risk of arrest and trial with the possibility of punishment by death. Instead of being put to death, he was imprisoned for six months. After jail time, he went back to spreading his antislavery message in Jamaica and went into public service. He was a crucial figure for emancipation and a memorial statue of him was unveiled in Kingston in 1875 to show his importance to the cause.2

1. “Champions of Emancipation.” Jamaica Information Service. Accessed November 27, 2023. https://jis.gov.jm/information/stalwarts/.

2. Ibid.

Transcribed Pages

Introduction

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The Watchman and the Jamaican Free Press was a Jamaican newspaper started in 1828 by Robert Osborn and Edward Jordon.1 (the library congress footnote). As part of our work in Professor Nina Reid-Maroney’s class at Huron University College, this project looks to transcribe, annotate, analyze, and create more accessibility for this newspaper. The purpose of this is for the noticeable lack of accessibility and research done on this black-written abolitionist work.

Specifically, we are looking towards the themes of agency this black media, freedom of the press, religion and black literature within the newspaper. By analyzing the themes and relating them to other secondary sources of similar topics – for cross-referencing information or for expanding knowledge to help understand the context of the news – we will present how the Watchman and the Jamaican Free Press exhibits these qualities in their work. The project’s focus is on the issue released on September 12, 1829. The pages of this issue highlight letters to the Editor discussing varying controversial opinions ranging from slavery to religion and politics, as well as news to report.  We created this project in hopes of bringing awareness to this historical abolitionist source and we hope that it leads to the continuation of studies on it as a source of black media.

 

1. Zack Snyder, “Watchmen,” The Library of Congress, 2009. https://www.loc.gov/item/jots.200157408/.