Journal of the Convention of Virginia, Held in the City of Richmond, on the First Monday in June, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty
| Journal of the Convention of Virginia | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
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| Published | : Printed by Augustine Davis | |
| Date | 1788 | |
This is a journal of Virgina's convention of the ratification of the U.S. Consititution compiled and published by Augustine Davis a prominent printer in Virginia during the Revolutionary War (1775–1783) and the Early Republic period.[1] The Yorktown native entered the publishing trade at one of two versions of the Virginia Gazette in Williamsburg, becoming co-owner in 1779. He eventually followed the state government's relocation to Richmond and in 1786 established the Virginia Independent Chronicle, later named the Virginia Gazette, and General Advertiser.[2] A supporter of a strong federal government, he reprinted essays from The Federalist and supported ratification of what became the U.S. Constitution. Davis became prosperous in the 1790s, investing well and receiving government printing contracts.[3]
Despite Virginia's growing population his printing volume remained unchanged, leading to complaints about the scarcity of documents in the western region of the state. The General Assembly removed him as public printer in 1798.[4] Davis supported the Federalist Party in 1800 and advocated the prosecution of James Thomson Callendar and other Jeffersonian editors under the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). Eleven months after Thomas Jefferson became president, Davis lost his position as Richmond's postmaster. Although declining in political influence, he continued to publish his newspaper under various titles until 1821 before retiring comfortably.[5]
