In part, the men (later joined by Harriet Beecher Stowe) sought a national publication for their writings against slavery. More generally, and in the words of The Atlantic’s modern-era editor, Cullen Murphy, the magazine was “an attempt to define and create a distinctly American voice: to project an American stance, to promote something that might be called the American Idea.” 

In the Pantheon

The Atlantic founders are in the pantheon of great American minds of the 19th century. And, drafting a founding “Declaration,” they were about high purpose: “In politics, The Atlantic Monthly will be the organ of no party or clique, but will honestly endeavor to be the exponent of what its conductors believe to be the American Idea… It will not rank itself with any sect of anties: but with that body of men which is in favor of Freedom, National Progress, and Honor…”

…and, in the Fray

How much do I concede in admitting that, at least, my work at Atlantic Media feels some many rungs down life’s ladder – less pantheon, more fray. At its founding, The Atlantic Monthly weighed in on the great issues of the era at the stately pace of 11 articles per month. Across our several titles – more digital than print – (The Atlantic, CityLab, National Journal, Government Executive, Quartz, Defense One) Atlantic Media now publishes 220 articles and posts every day. At a rate of 80,000 pieces per year, some are about freedom, national purpose and honor. http://www.atlanticmedia.com/about/ http://www.atlanticmedia.com/about/ http://www.atlanticmedia.com/about/Some, less so. Writing high, writing low, writing for the moment and, on occasion, for all time, Atlantic Media feels very much in the bustle of life of its 22 million global readers.

So, Would They Know Us?

Were Emerson, Longfellow, Lowell, and Holmes to return for a term, would they recognize their mark in us? Would they click on our sites and mark them as favorites?

Well, there is this. As in 1857, The Atlantic – and now its sister titles – writes for the single most-educated readership in the United States. And, our Atlantic Media writers hold, as close to religious faith, two tenets that date to our founding:

(1) That, considering issues honestly, wholly on their merit, we are in service of “no party or clique;” and

(2) That in our writing, as in the nation’s life more broadly, it is ideas that matter most.

So, would they know us? Well, some of us more than others; likely, I’d be out, calling on advertisers.  But we would know them and, mostly proud, want to walk them through our work.

David G. Bradley
Chairman – Atlantic Media