LAD #2: John Peter Zenger

1) Who was John Peter Zenger?

          In 1733, John Peter Zenger began his publishing career in New York when he began to print his Weekly Journal. In his newspaper he criticized the decision of colonial governor William Cosby to remove Chief Justice Lewis Morris. Cosby had come to New York and argued over his salary, and when he lost control of the court he removed the Chief Justice.  Hired by the opposition party, Zenger published several stories critical of Cosby. Once Cosby found out, he had Zenger arrested and charged with seditious libel.

2) What was the controversy over his charges? Talk about Hamilton's defense.

       The prosecution said that the fact that these articles had been published was sufficient to convict Zenger. This meant that in the opinion of person in power anyone could be thrown in jail for publishing even the most harmless of stories. Hamilton didn't disagree that Zenger had attacked the governor, but he argued that it was only libel if what Zenger had said was false.

3) What influence did his case have on American government tradition?

       This case proved that truth was a defense for libel. Not only this, but by disagreeing with Cosby the jury created the power that they could disagree with the ideas of those in the government.

4) What is the lasting significance of his trial?

        The most important outcome of this case, was the freedom of the press. It was now legal to write about anything, as long as it was true. This is an extremely important right to the American people.