The first two publications to be categorized as magazines were created in England by Richard Steele and Joseph Addison. Steele began publishing the Tatler in 1709 and then joined with Addison (who had written for the Tatler) to begin publishing the Spectator in 1711. These publications differed from newspapers because they carried more of an emphasis on entertainment and enlightenment than on pure information and news. Magazines in America began with a similar concept.

The Eighteenth Century

American magazines were chiefly born out of the need to voice political opinions and ideals as the Colonies evolved into a democratic nation. The first magazines in America debuted in 1741: Benjamin Franklin's The General Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, For all the British Plantations in America, which published six issues; and Andrew Bradford's American Magazine, or a Monthly View of the Political State of the British Colonies, which...