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.
American revolution, a war of independence, started on April 14, 1775 between the American colonies and the Britain. However, the series of events happened before 1775 already marked the beginning of the revolution war. During 1754 and 1763, there was a war between Britain and France which ended up with the victories British deeply in debt. Britain was weakened by the war and their economy was suffering, thus they started to impose tax from the American colonists. And that leaded to the the Stamp Act and the Sugar Act. The American colonists were not happy about the taxes not only because they were paying more money, but also because they were outraged and have no say in the taxes since they do not have a
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.
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.
The American Revolution (1775-1783) was a war between England and the colonies which were settled earlier by the English. There were many factors and events that led to the American Revolution. The Revolution was mainly an economic rebellion that was fueled by taxation without representation following the French and Indian War. The English Parliament was more often than not considered cruel and unfair by the colonists. With conflicts over trade, taxes and government representation, the colonies were at a starting line of a revolution that would later transform into the basis of the United States of America.
The American Revolution, also known as the War for Independence began from 1785-1783. The primary cause for the war was because of a conflict between the 13 British colonies and England. The American Revolution resulted in a victory for the 13 British colonies who would declare themselves as the United States of America. However, there are many questions on whether or not the American Revolution was really revolutionary and if there were revolutionary changes being made to society. The American Revolution was not revolutionary because separation between African-Americans and Whites still existed, no change in women's representation or their voices being valued as high as men, and the Indians were promised the “Utmost Good Faith” but the result
The American Revolution, or otherwise known as the American War of Independence, was taken place between the years of 1775-1783. The war was fought between Great Britain and the 13 British North American colonies. The American Revolution caused a series of traumatic events. The American colonists were justified in waging war because the British seized the rights of the colonists, the American colonists did not have a say in Parliament, the Boston Massacre, and incoherent decisions involving taxes by the British King.
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 was a war filled with many battles for a result of independence for Americans. The war lasted from April 1775- September 1783. However, it wasn't the longest war in history, if the Loyalist were going to lose they weren't giving it up too easy. The Loyalist were willing to do anything to keep the power of Britain over America. Some of the Brits moved away to America for more independence. The war was fought between the British Kingdom and the American colonists (colonial rebels). Many things lead up to this terrific war. Reasons why is because the Americans wanted their own independence from Great Britain. The king of Great Brit spent lots of money on the French-Indian War. In result, the king was in debt, so he taxed the Americans on just about everything they used in their everyday lives, such as: tea, sugar, and printed items. He did this so he could get all of his money back. The Americans were tired of this treatment so they decided to act and war had began.
The American revolution started when The King of Britain lost an immense amount of money. He bought high priced equipment and supplies for the army that basically costed an arm and a leg. Which led him to decide they would regain their money by taxing the colonist. His poor decisions of taxing the people without their agreement outraged them and sent them into a state of revolt.
The Glorious Revolution took place in England in 1688. They wanted to overthrow King James because people in the English parliament didn’t want to have a dynasty of Catholic monarchs. They were tired of Catholics and wanted a protestant monarch. William of Orange then came to power to. They changed the system of the Parliament having power over the monarch. This was first form of parliament democracy in the world. The American revolution started on a similar idea, freedom. Americans were tired of paying taxes from the Tea act of
The reason for revolution in America during the eighteenth century was not due to a single event but rather the difference in ideology from people living in America and the rule in Great Britain. Americans, as a country, realized that they wanted the same freedom the British had, instead of being used as a source of income. There are many struggles that Americans encountered in this thirst for freedom, occurrences like harsh taxes on necessities and retaliation of British officials.
The American Revolution was started by the thirteen original colonies in order the break away from the british monarchy and to create their own political system. It was a very bloody fight that included thousands of deaths. Even though in most cases the protests of the Civil Rights were also very violent and many were killed through the course of the movement the end results were completely different. In a previous statement I said that the American Revolution aimed to create their own government away from Great Britain when on the other hand the Civil Rights movement did not aim to create a new government strictly for African Americans, but to change it so it accommodated their needs too. This is how the American Revolution ( a revolution) differs from the Civil Rights movement ( a
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.