Peter Zenger

1) Peter Zenger was a publisher who spoke up against the colonial governor of New York, William Cosby, in the New York Weekly Journal. Moving to the colony of New York from Germany in 1710, Zenger was hired by a wealthy opposition group to criticize the new colonial governor because of the removal of Chief Justice Lewis Morris and other events. Zenger was later arrested and charged with "seditious libel". His lawyer, Alexander Hamilton, represented Zenger in court and the jury found him not guilty.

2) Alexander Hamilton, Zenger's lawyer, did say that his client's newspaper was offending to certain individuals. Although, Hamilton was saying that his client could not be charged for being libel unless his information he was publishing was proved false. He told the jury directly that unless the prosecution had evidence, there is no way Zenger could be charged for being libel.

3) In most countries, when citizens spoke out against a powerful official, there were severe punishments. In the colonies, if the information was true, the publishers could criticize the officials without being punished. This was an enormous victory for the right of freedom of the press.

4) From that point on, a publisher could print out a journal or newspaper criticizing their officials without being punished. This lead to criticism in papers in future papers protesting laws or acts forced upon the colonies by Great Britain and other events. All and all, this led the freedom of the press, one of the many freedoms in the present day United States.