thumb|Novascotian Building (1862), [[Founders Square, Prince St., Halifax, Nova Scotia]]
The Novascotian was a newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It became one of the most influential voices in the British North American colonies in its nearly one century of existence.
The paper was founded as the Nova Scotian or Colonial Herald by George R. Young, in 1824. Joseph Howe took control of it in 1827, establishing the paper's motto: "The free constitution which guards the British press." Published as a weekly, the paper played a key role in the intellectual and political life of Nova Scotia. A letter published in the Novascotian in 1835 led to charges of libel against Howe. When acquitted, he proclaimed: "the Press of Nova Scotia is free."
With a circulation of 3000 subscribers, the Novascotian became the leading provincial newspaper in the 1840s. A well-known contributor was Thomas Chandler Haliburton, creator of the immensely popular character Sam Slick. Howe's entry into politics necessitated selling the paper. Nevertheless, the Novascotian remained a liberal voice in the province until the First World War, reaching a peak circulation of 20,000. Later it was published as the Nova Scotian and then Nova Scotia's Farm and Home Journal. It was discontinued in the 1920s after years of dwindling circulation following a change of its political allegiances to the Union Government.
The name Novascotian is still in use. It is now printed as a human interest section of The Chronicle-Herald newspaper of Halifax.
The early years, 1824-1831
The paper was founded as the Novascotian or Colonial Herald by George Renny Young in 1824. Young had a very respectable circulation due to the ability of him and his writers as well as the great newspaper industry emerging at the time. However, Howe had been working in the office of the Royal Gazette since he was 13 years old, and during the months he could not go to school he had books to study, and his father, who for many years worked in the offices of the King's Printer and Postmaster-General of the Lower Provinces, to talk to.
- Howe read political literature of all countries which expressed their opinions in English. Howe wanted to get all of the news to the people. He did not want the Novascotian to have an affiliation with any one political party or government because it was for the people. From December 1829 until August, 1831, Howe "Eastern Rambles", a series that presented a perspective from the Eastern part of British North America. This showed that Howe wanted his newspaper to be nonpartisan in all matters, which was unique compared to the other newspapers printed at the time. The Novascotian would support the Government in their actions if they were right for doing so, and would warn the People when the actions of the Government were not proper.
During the late 1820s and early 1830s, as newspapers grew so did their confidence in terms of the reporting of political events, embracing the concept of public argument and conversation over political issues. It was during this time that the Novascotian evolved into the outspoken and combative newspaper that it was. On July 8, 1829, Howe introduced a section in the Novascotian entitled "Legislative Reviews".
The Novascotian was the cutting edge of the time when it came to the development of political conversation. This was because Howe was the first to give regular reports on the House of Assembly and opened up his newspaper to the voices of the public through letters. Howe had eventually reached his breaking point and in late 1834, wrote in the Novascotian that he was going to start a campaign in the interest of bringing to light the wrongful actions of government. On January 1, 1835, the final piece of this campaign was published in the Novascotian, a letter signed "The People".
This letter accused the magistrates of "reprehensible irresponsibility, incompetence, and self-interestedness in the conduct of their responsibilities." Because the letter was published, Howe was put on trial for seditious libel, being charged with "seditiously contriving, devising, and intending to stir up and incite discontent and sedition among His Majesty's subjects." The crime of seditious libel had been defined 200 years prior to the time of Howe's trial and was seen by many as an unfair crime as it could be as broad or as specific as the court chose.
If Howe had been convicted of seditious libel, the Novascotian would have been shut down. Howe represented himself in the trial and presented nothing but a 6 h 15 min speech against the charge. It is said that Howe's libel victory established the fundamental basis for the freedom of the press in Canada,