LAD #2 Peter Zenger

Question #1 Who was John Peter Zenger?
John Peter Zenger was a publisher of a Newspaper in New York that spoke out against Colonel Governor William Cosby. Zenger was speaking out against William Cosby due to his removal of Chief Justice Lewis Morris for personal benefits. Cosby then put in James Delancey to replace Morris. John Peter Zenger expressed his freedom of speech by speaking out about how skeptical he was of Colonel Governor William Cosby's decision. Cosby later would charge and arrest Zenger with seditious libel.
Question #2 What was the controversy over his charges? Talk about Hamilton's defense.
The controversy over Zenger's trial was that the charges were put on him by Colonel Governor William Cosby, who had at the time just removed Justice Lewis Morris and put in James Delancey who would be the presiding judge over Zenger's case. This now brought controversy over the obvious bias that would occur during the trial. Due to this Bias Andrew Hamilton had to appeal directly to the jury throughout the trial and when the time came for a verdict Zenger was found not guilty.
Question #3 What influence did his case have on American governmental tradition?
This case had a deceivingly large impact on the governmental tradition of America in that it was really the first test of the courts and how well they were set up at the time. There were some positives and some negatives in regard to the process of the trial. The fact that the Chief Justice for the case was put in place by The Colonel Governor, who was also the man pressing charges, shows huge bias. This situation would never occur in todays courts because Justice Delancey would never be allowed to continue as the presiding judge due to his bias on the case. But since the court system was relatively new and Justice Delancey did not have to pardon himself it was  hard for Andrew Hamilton to appeal his case. Therefore he had to rely directly on the jury which shows that the jury system held strong throughout this case considering Zenger was found not guilty 
Question #4 What is the lasting significance of his trial? Explain.
The lasting significance of this trial is that it shows how America really did stay true to its governmental foundation and the peoples freedom of the press. Also it brought light to the fact that America was a democratic country that allowed its citizens specific rights that couldn't be taken away from them.