Z is for John Peter Zenger. John Peter Zenger committed libel in a newspaper, stating blunt truths about the government’s faults. William Cosby didn’t like this at all, so he had him tried. The verdict was made quickly: not guilty. The case became vital to the lives of the American colonies by giving them the First Amendment: Freedom of the Press. It had a large impact on the lives of the citizens by allowing them to say whatever they wanted about the government in a newspaper or other form of public writing. John Peter Zenger is now known today for giving us this freedom. “The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of the liberty of the press; for it is an essential branch of liberty, so perhaps it is the best preservative of the whole.” B is for The Boston Massacre. What started out as a simple snowball fight was turned into a huge catastrophic dilemma. A few colonists started to throw snowballs at a group of Patriots. However, as more and more people joined in on the bullying, things like sticks, rocks, and bricks were being lunged at them. The Patriots then fired at the group, killing some. The press exaggerated this and turned it into a “massacre” so people would turn on the Patriots even more when in reality, they were just protecting themselves. I is for Independence. What started the whole revolution was America’s need for independence from Britain. The Americans wanted liberty and to be free from the British. They believed in being free more than probably any other country, and were willing to fight for it, too. Americans saw liberty as something everyone should be given. (By everyone, I mean white males.) Because of this, they fought in the Revolutionary War to win back their freedom... ... middle of paper ... ...any resolutions that were all summed up in one book called A Summary View of the Right of British America. I think that Thomas Jefferson was a great author and had many ideas that America came to use as a tool in winning independence. L is for Long Island. Long Island was used as a place to spy on British Forces. It was made by George Washington in order to help Patriots get some intel on Britain and try to figure out their next moves. The Battle of Long Island took place in New York and caused the Americans to suffer from a huge loss and end up retreating. Great Britain did more than double damage on America than America did to them. William Howe, the British general, led the Loyalists in this battle and caused the Patriots to flee from New York and lose their spying fort. Despite their efforts, America lost this battle, but did indeed end up winning the war.
In the Supreme Court case of the New York Times Co. vs. United States there is a power struggle. This struggle includes the entities of the individual freedoms against the interests of federal government. It is well known that the first amendment protects the freedom of speech, but to what extent does this freedom exist. There have been instances in which speech has been limited; Schenck vs. United States(1919) was the landmark case which instituted such limitations due to circumstances of “clear and present danger”. Many have noted that the press serves as an overseer which both apprehends and guides national agenda. However, if the federal government possessed the ability to censor the press would the government restrain itself? In the case of the Pentagon Papers the necessities of individual freedoms supersedes the scope of the national government.
John Peter Zenger is a German immigrant who printed a harshly written article about governor, William Cosby in the New York Weekly Journal. At the time he was one of the few skilled printers. Cosby wanted to terminate the journal; he hired Daniel Horsmanden to investigate the paper for any signs of libel. Zenger was then accused of disloyal libel and placed in jail. Crosby knew if there were no printers then the paper would be finished. Zenger and his trials were important to history because his trial symbolized liberty. His trial on August 4th 1735 is significant for many reasons. During his hearing, Judge Lewis was removed from the court due to affiliations with Crosby. This was one of the first step towards liberty and removing executive
The American Revolution has great importance on the way the United States views itself. Contrary to popular belief, Americans were not separate people subject to British tyranny. A large portion of American colonialists thought of themselves as British. There are many ideas and causes as to why the American Revolution began. Differing political traditions, both parties economic interest, trading interest of those involved in transatlantic commerce, Britain’s large debt that accumulated during the Seven Years War, mutual misunderstandings, and the Great Awakening are many of the reasons that the colonist began to revolt against England.
The American Revolution began for many reasons, some are; long-term social, economic, and political changes in the British colonies, prior to 1750 provided the basis for and started a course to America becoming an independent nation under it's own control with its own government. Not a tyrant king thousands of miles away. A huge factor in the start of the revolution was the French and Indian War during the years of 1754 through 1763; this changed the age-old bond between the colonies and Britain, its mother. To top it off, a decade of conflicts between the British rule and the colonists, starting with the Stamp Act in 1765 that eventually led to the eruption of war in 1775, along with the drafting of The Declaration of Independence in 1776.
Battle of Long Island. After leaving Boston, British General Howe planned to use New York as a base. The British captured Staten Island and began a military build-up on Long Island in preparation for an advance on Brooklyn. Washington succeeded in saving his army by secretly retreating onto Manhattan Island. Washington eventually retreated from Manhattan, fearing the prospect of being trapped on the island, and the British occupied New York City.
One of the first major events in the starting of the Revolutionary war was the Boston Massacre. That made the British do cruel things to the colonists. America didn’t want anything to do with the British. The colonists wanted them out and they wanted independence much later after the Boston Tea Party.
Before the Revolutionary War started there was the French and Indian War, which was a costly battle for the Ohio Valley. Following the war, Britain needed money to pay for the costs which caused them to tax colonists without their consent or representation. This angered the colonists which caused a series of events which was the beginning of a rebellion. After years of injustice, the colonists finally went to war.
The American revolution began in 1775, because the colonists in the Americas wanted to gain their freedom from Great Britain. “Britain, like other imperial powers in the 18th century, used mercantilism and The Navigation Acts to regulate commerce in the British interest.” (History Reference Center).
The year was 1734 and America saw the incarceration of John Peter Zenger, publisher of the NEW YORK Weekly Journal, for publishing articles that ridiculed Governor Cosby of New York. Cosby accused Zenger of seditious libel. The law of seditious libel held that the greater the truth, the greater the libel, meaning that if the articles were true, they would, of course, undermine the Governor's authority. The most prominent attorney and a founder of America, Andrew Hamilton, represented Zenger. Hamilton rationalized that his client be acquitted. He based his reasoning’s on what Zenger had published about the governor was, in fact, true, Hamilton convinced the jury to find him not guilty. Later, "A Brief Narrative of the Case and Trial of John Peter Zenger," written by Hamilton, was published anonymously in Zenger's paper. The Brief Narrative argued that newspapers should be free to criticize the government as long as what they wrote was true. The article helped shape the political culture that led to the Revolutionary War and the subsequent adoption of the Bill of Rights.
Coates, R. E. (1995-99). Freedom of the Press . Retrieved November 12, 2010, from http://etext.virginia.edu/jefferson/quotations/jeff1600.htm
On March 5, 1770, an event occurred in Boston, which consisted of British troops shooting upon colonists. People refer to this as a massacre, but they only look at one side of the story. The Boston Massacre in 1770 was not really a massacre, but a mutual riot (Boston Massacre History Society). British soldiers went to America to keep the people of Boston in order. However, the soldier's presence there was not welcomed by the Bostonians and this made things worse (Boston Massacre History Society). The British had to fire their guns because the Bostonians were antagonizing the soldiers, which caused five people to die. The Bostonians made the soldiers feel threatened so in turn they acted in self-defense. The British soldiers and their Captain had to go through a trial, to prove they were not to blame for what had occurred.
Before the Boston Massacre even occurred, tensions were high in the city of Boston between the Bostonians and the British. At this time people were just getting over the Stamp Act and were now angered by the new taxes also known as the Townshend Duties. This new tax caused Bostonians to become more aggressive causing the British to send more soldiers to impose the laws of Parliament and to restore order among the people. The arrival of more soldiers only caused more of an uproar between the people of Boston and the red coats. Bostonians went out of their way to harass British soldiers whenever they got the chance, but on March 5, 1770 both sides acted unacceptably resulting in the Boston Massacre (84-85).
people. On top of it being their right, the government never elaborated on how the printing of these journals were a threat to national security. If there was not a threat to national security, the U.S. government was illegally stopping the New York Times from printing which was in turn, infringing on their constitutional right. The Government, however, saw this case in a completely light. They felt that absolute freedom of the press is nowhere guaranteed in the constitution, especially when national security is involved. The side of the U.S. was attempting to show the justices that a balance has to be made between freedom of press and the safety of the nation. Another argument made by the Government was that by allowing the publication of these articles could set a dangerous precedent for future cases that involve the same issue. The case went down to the wire, with both sides making fair and logical
The American Revolution was a political outcry for a refinement against British monarchy and aristocracy. Many people have the misconception that the people of the Thirteen American Colonies did not want to be British citizens any longer. That was not true. The real problem was described in a quote, “No taxation without representation”. The American Revolution was an effort by the Thirteen Colonies to become their own nation apart from Great Britain. The American Revolution, also known as the American War for Independence, took place in 1775 until 1783 (My Revolutionary war).
In 1734 however, the first instance of breaking away from British law and emerging towards an American law that propagated a “freedom to print/ publish criticism of the government” occurred when John Peter Zenger published criticism against the colonial governor of New York, William Cosby, in his newspaper The New York Weekly Journal. Zenger was arrested (under the 18th Century British Sedition Law), but was set free once the jury acquitted him based on the argument made by his attorneys that imprisoning him for fairly and truthfully criticizing the government was not the right way to promote justice.