Andrew Hamilton’s Defense of John Peter Zenger, 1736
In 1734 John Peter Zenger, the publisher of the New-York Weekly Journal, was arrested for printing articles accusing New York’s colonial governor of corruption and fraud. Colonists widely protested Zenger’s arrest and followed his trial closely. Zenger’s attorney, Andrew Hamilton, argued that his client’s accusations against the governor were true and therefore not libel. Since English common law defined libel as a statement undermining government authority, regardless of whether it was truthful, Hamilton’s successful defense of Zenger signaled an important moment in the history of free speech and the press.
Mr. Hamilton. May it please Your Honour; I agree with Mr. Attorney, that Government is a sacred Thing, but I differ very widely from him when he would insinuate, that the just Complaints of a Number of Men, who suffer under a bad Administration, is libelling that Administration. Had I believed that to be Law, I should not have given the Court the Trouble of hearing any Thing that I could say in this cause. . . . What strange Doctrine is it, to press every Thing for Law here which is so in England? I believe we should not think it a Favour, at present at least, to establish this Practice. In England so great a Regard and Reverence is had to the Judges, that if any man strike another in Westminster Hall, while the Judges are sitting, he shall lose his Right Hand, and forfeit his Land and Goods, for so doing. And tho’ the Judges here claim all the Powers and Authorities within this Government, that a Court of King’s Bench has in England, yet I believe Mr. Attorney will scarcely say, that such a Punishment could be legally inflicted on a Man for committing such an Offence, in the Presence of the Judges sitting in any Court within the Province of New-York. The Reason is obvious; a Quarrel or Riot in New-York cannot possibly be attended with those dangerous Consequences that it might in Westminster Hall; nor (I hope) will it be alledged, that any Misbehaviour to a Governor in the Plantations will, or ought to be, judged of or punished, as a like Undutifulness would be to Our Sovereign.
Source: Livingston Rutherfurd, ed., John Peter Zenger, His Press, His Trial, and a Bibliography of Zenger Imprints (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1904), 74, 77.
Interpret the Evidence
What do Hamilton’s arguments tell us about colonial perceptions of government?
What argument is Hamilton making about the relationship between the colonies and Britain?
Put It in Context
Why were jurors willing to ignore English common law in finding Zenger innocent and to thereby set a novel legal precedent?
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