Existing comment:
1720-1723
Cato's Letters
London, 1721, second edition
From 1720 to 1723, the London Journal opposed restrictive British policies with a series of 138 letters under the pen name "Cato." The authors were John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon. Echoing John Locke, they called for representative government and freedom of expression. The letters were reprinted in Colonial newspapers and pamphlets. As one historian has written, Cato's letters became "the most popular, quotable, esteemed source of political ideas in the Colonial period." |