James Rivington: The Printer Who Wore Two Faces

Few figures of the American Revolution embodied contradiction as completely as James Rivington, a London-born bookseller and printer whose wartime career placed him simultaneously at the heart of British propaganda and, it appears, at the secret service of the American cause. Born in 1724 to a prominent English publishing family, Rivington inherited a comfortable place in the London book trade but squandered much of his fortune through gambling and extravagant living. Seeking a fresh start, he crossed the Atlantic and established himself as a bookseller in the colonies, opening shops in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York before settling permanently in Manhattan. There, in 1773, he launched the New-York Gazetteer, a newspaper that distinguished itself through lively writing, broad coverage, and a declared editorial policy of impartiality — printing arguments from both Loyalist and patriot perspectives. This very neutrality, however, proved untenable in a society hurtling toward revolution. As tensions escalated, patriots grew suspicious of any voice that refused to champion their cause outright. Rivington's willingness to publish Loyalist viewpoints made him a marked man, and by late 1775, his careful balancing act had collapsed under the weight of colonial fury.

The collapse came violently. On November 27, 1775, a mounted patriot militia led by Isaac Sears rode into New York, smashed Rivington's press, and carried off his type — an act of intimidation that effectively silenced one of the continent's most prominent publishers. Rivington fled to England, where he remained until the British military occupation of New York in 1777 made it safe for him to return. He arrived with a new press and royal appointment as the King's Printer, relaunching his newspaper under the title Royal Gazette. The paper he now produced bore little resemblance to his earlier, balanced Gazetteer. The Royal Gazette became a relentless instrument of Loyalist messaging, trumpeting British military successes, mocking George Washington and the Continental Congress, and portraying the American cause as hopeless and disorganized. Patriots across the colonies responded with seething contempt, dubbing his publication "Rivington's Lying Gazette" and burning his effigy in public squares from Connecticut to the Carolinas. To all outward appearances, Rivington had chosen his side decisively and was wielding his press as a weapon of war on behalf of the British Crown.

Yet behind this public persona of unyielding Loyalist devotion, Rivington may have been conducting one of the most dangerous deceptions of the entire war. Evidence assembled by historians in the twentieth century — most notably by CIA historian Morton Pennypacker and later by Alexander Rose — suggests that Rivington was secretly supplying intelligence to the American side, likely through the Culper Spy Ring, the clandestine network overseen by Washington's spymaster, Major Benjamin Tallmadge. His position was extraordinarily advantageous for espionage: as the King's Printer and a fixture of New York's British social scene, Rivington dined with officers, attended military functions, and had access to information that few civilians could obtain. The most dramatic claim holds that Rivington provided the signals codebook of the Royal Navy's North American fleet, intelligence that may have reached the French admiral de Grasse before the decisive naval engagement at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781. If true, Rivington's betrayal of British trust contributed directly to the campaign that ended the war at Yorktown. The risks he bore were staggering — discovery would have meant the gallows, with no public reputation to shield him, since every patriot in America believed him an enemy.

The ambiguity of Rivington's legacy is precisely what makes it so instructive. After the British evacuated New York in November 1783, Rivington was one of the few prominent Loyalists who remained in the city rather than departing for England or Canada — a choice that itself suggests he had reason to believe he would be protected. He attempted to continue publishing, briefly issuing a renamed newspaper, but his business never recovered. He died in New York on July 4, 1802, impoverished and largely forgotten, his secret — if it was one — buried with him. For historians, Rivington represents the tantalizing incompleteness of the archival record: a man whose full story may never be definitively confirmed. For students of the Revolution, he is a powerful reminder that the conflict was not a simple drama of heroes and villains. Loyalty, treachery, and patriotism could coexist in a single life, and the most consequential acts of courage sometimes wore the disguise of cowardice. Rivington's story challenges us to look beyond surfaces, to question easy categories, and to recognize that in war, the truth is often the last thing to emerge.

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WHY JAMES RIVINGTON MATTERS TO NEW YORK CITY

Rivington's story is inseparable from the streets of lower Manhattan, where his print shop on Wall Street operated at the epicenter of British-occupied New York for nearly seven years. His presence reminds us that New York City was not simply a passive stage for the Revolution — it was the nerve center of British military operations in North America, and the city's residents navigated an agonizing landscape of divided loyalties, military rule, and constant surveillance. For students and visitors walking these streets today, Rivington's tale reveals a hidden dimension of the war: the shadow world of intelligence and espionage that operated beneath the surface of occupied life. His story teaches that the Revolution was won not only on battlefields but in coffeehouses, print shops, and private conversations — and that New York City, so often remembered as a Loyalist stronghold, may have quietly harbored some of the patriot cause's most daring operatives.

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TIMELINE

• 1724: Born in London, England, into a prominent family in the book publishing trade
• 1760: Emigrates to the American colonies and establishes bookselling operations in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York
• 1773: Launches the New-York Gazetteer, which becomes one of the most widely circulated newspapers in British North America
• 1775: Patriot militia under Isaac Sears destroys his press and confiscates his type on November 27, forcing him to flee to England
• 1777: Returns to British-occupied New York with a new press and appointment as King's Printer; begins publishing the Royal Gazette
• 1778–1781: Allegedly begins passing intelligence to the American side, possibly through contacts linked to the Culper Spy Ring
• 1781: Purportedly provides the British naval signals codebook, which may have aided Franco-American forces at the Battle of the Chesapeake in September
• 1783: Remains in New York after the British evacuation in November; briefly continues publishing under a new masthead
• 1802: Dies in New York City on July 4, in poverty and obscurity

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SOURCES

• Rose, Alexander. Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring. Bantam Dell, 2006.
• Pennypacker, Morton. General Washington's Spies on Long Island and in New York. Long Island Historical Society, 1939.
• Hewlett, Leroy. "James Rivington, King's Printer: Rebelling Against Rebellion." The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America, Vol. 68, No. 1, 1974.
• New-York Historical Society. Royal Gazette archival holdings. https://www.nyhistory.org