LAD #2 Zenger Trial

1.)John Peter Zenger was the editor for the New York Weekly Journal. Zenger was originally from Germany, but immigrated to America in 1710. He first was an apprentice at the New York Gazette, but eventually became his own editor. He openly spoke out against the governor at the time, William Cosby. Since Zenger was speaking critically about the governor at the time, the governor took matters into his own hands and arrested him. Zenger was then put to trial the result of which is why he is well-known.


2.)Hamilton, Zenger’s lawyer, made the trial significant because of his defense. Hamilton didn’t deny that Zenger had ever wrote critical pieces on the governor, but he said that Zenger should not be sent to jail because what he wrote could have been true. The jury could see the defense as valid and said that Zenger was not guilty. Alexander Hamilton thereby introduced “freedom of speech” to the Americans.


3.)This case led to the First Amendment in the Constitution, where freedom of speech was protected. Prior to the Zenger case the colonists had to worry about treason and speaking ill of the king/country. After this case, however, the issue was settled in America.

4.)This trial didn’t just give the U.S. its First Amendment, but it also gave birth to a new kind of America. Eventually “freedom of speech” would attract more immigrants who had been oppressed, as well as, leading the possibly the most important event in America’s history, the American Revolution. The “freedom of speech” allowed colonists to speak their mind and, also, manipulate those who read newspapers, magazines and posters into believing in the cause.