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John Peter Zenger was a printer whose newspaper in colonial New York, The New York Weekly Journal, was advertised to
contain "the freshest advises, foreign and domestic" when it was first published in 1733. Many New Yorkers
particularly enjoyed Zenger's criticism of the government, as well as reading the latest news from the colonies and
from England. One person who did not enjoy reading criticism of the government was the newly-appointed governor, William Cosby. Cosby had problems since arriving in New York. Zenger's paper had published articles, ballads, and false advertising that suggested Cosby intended to plunge the inhabitants of New York into slavery and that he was depriving them of their lawful rights. Although the charges were exaggerated, they had a strong basis in fact because Cosby had replaced one chief judge with another of his choosing after the former had ruled against him. Charged with seditious libel by royal governor of NY, Zenger was aquitted, a victory for the freedom of the press. |
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