“A NOBLE FOUNDATION FOR SECURING LIBERTY”
-Andrew Hamilton’s Argument to the Jury

 

“The Trial of Zenger in 1735 was the germ of American freedom, the morning star of that liberty which subsequently revolutionized America.”
-Gouverneur Morris 1752-1816 [Quoted in John Peter Zenger by Livingston Rutherford (NY 1941)]

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THE DEBT FREE MEN OWE TO FREE SPEECH
-Stanley Katz: 1972 Introduction to A Brief Narrative of the Cafe and Tryal of John Peter Zenger by James Alexander (1736

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The arrival in August 1732 of William Cosby us governor of New York set in motion the train of political events that concluded in the trial of John Peter Zenger. * Cosby was a “rogue governor” * from the moment he stepped ashore. He was quick-tempered, haughty, unlettered, jealous, and above all greedy.

Thus, by 1734, a full-scale opposition faction had been created in New York * Cosby’s opponents were hampered, however, by the fact that New York’s sole newspaper * was “a paper known to be under the direction of the government.”* This situation was transformed on November 5, 1733, however, with the publication of the inaugural issue of the New York Weekly Journal, America’s first party newspaper. * The Weekly Journal was printed and published at the modest print shop of John Peter Zenger. * The guiding genius and effective editor of the Journal was James Alexander.

Zenger printed criticism of the governing regime in at least three forms: satire, reportage, and essays on government. * Governor Cosby decided to still its voice.

On November 17 the Sheriff imprisoned Zenger. He was arrested on the Council’s warrant which charged him with printing and publishing seditious libels * The opposition party came to the printer’s defense. On November 18 James Alexander and William Smith were formally engaged as his attorneys …Smith and Alexander * offered exceptions to the commissions of the two Supreme Court judges. * Chief Justice DeLancey refused to hear the exceptions in court, and * he disbarred Smith and Alexander.

Zenger petitioned the court * to appoint a lawyer for him. The Chief Justice obliged by naming John Chambers, a competent lawyer but a Governor’s man. * In a brilliant stroke, Alexander engaged Andrew Hamilton of Philadelphia to defend Zenger. Zenger’s trial * took place on August 4, 1736. After the Attorney General read his information, Chambers delivered his opening speech, and the stage seemed set for a weak defense of the printer. * Andrew Hamilton rose dramatically from his chair in the City Hall courtroom, and announced * that he would participate in Zenger’s defense. Armed with years of courtroom experience and a well-prepared brief, speaking with the daring of one indifferent to the local political contests, Hamilton made short work of convincing the * jury of Zenger’s innocence. When the arguments were concluded at the end of the day, it took the jury only a few minutes to return a verdict of not guilty. “Huzza” rang out for Zenger and Hamilton.

-Stanley N. Katz: 1972 Introduction to A Brief Narrative of the Case and Trial of John Peter Zenqer by James Alexander (1736)

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