Zenger trial

E456443

The Zenger trial was a landmark 1735 colonial American court case that helped establish the principle of freedom of the press by acquitting printer John Peter Zenger of libel for criticizing the royal governor.

All labels observed (5)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf colonial American court case ⓘ
freedom of the press case ⓘ
legal case ⓘ
appliesLaw English common law of seditious libel ⓘ
chronology 18th century ⓘ
concernsPublication New-York Weekly Journal ⓘ
country Province of New York ⓘ
court Supreme Court of Judicature of the Province of New York ⓘ
date 1735 ⓘ
endDate 1735-08-04 ⓘ
hasAccusation seditious libel ⓘ
hasComplainant Governor William Cosby ⓘ
hasDefendant John Peter Zenger ⓘ
hasDefenseArgument jury may judge law as well as fact ⓘ
truth should be a defense to libel ⓘ
hasDefenseLawyer Andrew Hamilton ⓘ
William Smith Sr. ⓘ
hasJudge James DeLancey ⓘ
linked to: James De Lancey
hasJury colonial jury ⓘ
hasLanguage English ⓘ
hasPlaintiff Crown v. Zenger ⓘ
linked to: Zenger trial
hasProsecutor Attorney General Richard Bradley ⓘ
influenced First Amendment press freedom tradition ⓘ
development of freedom of the press in the United States ⓘ
involvesPerson Andrew Hamilton ⓘ
James DeLancey ⓘ
linked to: James De Lancey

John Peter Zenger ⓘ
Richard Bradley ⓘ
William Cosby ⓘ
William Smith Sr. ⓘ
jurisdiction British America ⓘ
legalCharge libel ⓘ
location New York City ⓘ
notableFor advancing freedom of the press in America ⓘ
establishing truth as a defense in the eyes of the public ⓘ
influencing American views on press liberty ⓘ
partOf colonial history of the United States ⓘ
legal history of New York ⓘ
precededBy arrest of John Peter Zenger in 1734 ⓘ
relatedTo First Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ
freedom of speech ⓘ
history of American journalism ⓘ
result acquittal ⓘ
startDate 1735-08-04 ⓘ
subject criticism of colonial government ⓘ
freedom of the press ⓘ
verdict not guilty ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

John Peter Zenger → knownFor → Zenger trial ⓘ
John Peter Zenger → legalCase → Crown v. John Peter Zenger ⓘ
linked to: Zenger trial
Andrew Hamilton → trial → John Peter Zenger libel trial ⓘ
linked to: Zenger trial
Zenger trial → hasPlaintiff → Crown v. Zenger ⓘ
linked to: Zenger trial
Anna Catharina Maulin → associatedWith → John Peter Zenger free-press case ⓘ
linked to: Zenger trial