John Peter Zenger
Zenger immigrated to New York from the German Palatinate in 1710 and became an apprentice to William Bradford, New York’s only printer.  In 1733 he was asked by opponents of the royal governor, William Cosby, to be the printer for the first political party newspaper in the country, The New York Weekly Journal.  After articles critical of the governor were printed by Zenger, Cosby brought had him arrested and charged with “seditious libel.”  Zenger was unable to pay the huge bail set by the governor.  His lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued before the jury in 1735 that truth should be the defense to the charge of libel.  In other words, if what was written was the truth, then Zenger should go free. The 12-man jury declared that Zenger was “not guilty” at the end of a trial that took a significant first step toward establishing the principle of freedom of the press.
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