“ Collect together the Newspapers, in all the States and see what a monstrous Mass of Lies you will have before you.” - John Adams

“if the Government and the Officers of it are to be the constant theme for News-paper abuse, and this too without condescending to investigate the motives or the facts, it will be impossible, I conceive, for any man living to manage the helm, or to keep the machine together.” George Washington to Edmund Randolph

"Fake news" would be an idea readily understood by the Founding Fathers. Plainly false accusations, leveled against political actors (or 'cabals' of them) were widely published; often ascribed to 'unnamed sources'. This aspect was part and parcel of the ‘newspaper wars’ of the founding era, and political campaigns - it even had a name, "calumny". All newspapers were unabashedly partisan. Their major Editors were well-connected, influential people - and they (and some of the founding fathers) abused this influence.

Newspapers exploded in number and influence during the 1790s. This growth was assisted by the US Post Office, which provided a free service for exchanging copy between distant newspapers. Though mostly advertisements, most also contained anonymous "op-eds". These pieces were sometimes the work of founding fathers, but almost always meant to influence public opinion. Legislation, foreign policy issues and often the character of political actors were debated between opponents, in print.

Many of the founders themselves actively engaged with the press. Some penned (sometimes quite accusatory) op-eds, usually under pseudonym. Hamilton was famous for doing this, but James Madison, John Adams, and others did as well. All of the founders understood the power of the press, and many sought to ‘control narratives’, influence public opinion, and otherwise instigate change by using newspapers’ vehicles.

• 'Leaked' correspondences of politicians were also often printed. US Postmaster Generals could wield partisan influence: charging their underlings with illicitly confiscating correspondences from political opponents. This was such an issue that many founders used private couriers instead of public mail, especially in jurisdictions of known crooked postmasters - all because of the threat of theft and publication of their letters. Even forgeries of letters could cause scandal. Thomas Jefferson had to write to his newly elected Vice President that stories in the press of a letter that stated otherwise were false: and that the letter in question was itself a fake.

• A false accusation made by James Callender caused a scandal that some historians consider to have ruined Alexander Hamilton’s career. The Maria Reynold’s Affair was America’s first sex scandal, and the biggest scandal of the 1790s. The story went that Hamilton, while Treasury Secretary, had had an ongoing affair with Maria Reynold’s (he had) and had given her ‘insider information’ that she could have used for speculation on federal securities and bonds (he had not). Callender, a Scottish immigrant editor, ‘broke’ this story in a leading newspaper, and cited unnamed sources. His source was almost surely James Monroe, who provided the true story of Hamilton’s infidelities - however, Madison had specifically told Hamilton (when previously investigating the adultery) that he had cleared him of corruption, and considered the affair to not be the government’s business. Hamilton challenged Monroe to a duel over the indiscretion. Ironically, it was Aaron Burr who defused that potential clash. Callendar, who would go on to become the nation’s foremost scandalmonger, added the corruption bit to sell copy, and to gain partisan points. It worked magnificently. Hamilton was mortified and never held office afterwards.

• A (true) charge of cronyism (involving the press) levelled at Jefferson’s State Department caused the future President to resign his post as Secretary. Jefferson and Madison had also realized the power of the press for partisan work and public influence. They tapped the Poet of the Revolution, Philip Freneau, (a college friend of James Madison’s) and helped him launch the National Gazette. When Freneau struggled financially - almost all newspapers did - Jefferson gave him a job at the State Department. Using these funds, Freneau boosted his newspapers’ reach, and partisan rhetoric. His newspaper became one of the foremost in the nation. But Hamilton was too sly for this. He tapped his own man at a rival newspaper. Hamilton then, under pseudonym, called out Jefferson for cronyism in that appointment. Jefferson and Freneau tried, awkwardly, to mount a defense, but Hamilton’s charges rang too true. President Washington asked Jefferson to fire Freneau, and Jefferson refused. Soon after, in the midst of mounting clamour, Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State.

• The infamous Alien and Sedition Acts (which saw fully half of the leading newspaper editors in America brought to court for libeling the government) were also partly in response to "fake news". Some argued that lies about the President in print were perhaps the work of foreign agents - and this was dangerous to the government and American citizens. During Adams’ administration approximately half of the major leading newspaper editors in the country were charged, and brought before courts. Many were convicted, and served time and paid fines. Their newspapers were often interrupted. Truth was able to be used as an offense - but the burden of proving it was on the defendant. Benjamin Franklin Bache, grandson of Benjamin Franklin, was publishing a premiere newspaper the Aurora (so influential that Jefferson and Adams would regularly keep abreast of it) and was caught up in these trials. The gossip-for-hire James Callender spent time in jail for seditious libel - only increasing his notoriety in the country. Obviously, these high handed actions increased opposition to Adams and the Federalist Party. Another convicted calumniator given jail time was elected to office while serving his term, by indignant citizens of his state. By the end of Adams’ first term, he realized the Alien and Sedition Acts had been a mistake, and he repealed them, but it was too late to undo the damage to his re-election prospects - and Jefferson rode the wave of opposition to the Federalist Party by winning the election of 1800.

Sources:

The Tyranny of Printers: Newspaper Politics in the Early American Republic by Jeffrey Pasley

The Alien and Sedition Acts by Terri Halperin

Jefferson and Hamilton: the Rivalry that Forged a Nation by John Ferling

A Magnificent Catastrophe by Edward J. Larson

Founding Feuds by Paul Aron