Zenger, John Peter

John Peter Senger was born in 1697 in Germany in the Upper Palatinate ^[3] . In 1710, the thirteen- year- old Zenger moved from Germany to America with his family. His father died during a two-month sea voyage on his way to New York , and his mother had to raise John and his brother and sister. Upon arriving in America, her mother sent Senger to study for William Bradford ( en: William Bradford (Colonial printer) ), the only publisher of New York at that time who worked for the government ^[4] and at the same time printed political pamphlets and critical articles ^[5] . Sanger remained a student of Bradford until 1718 . In addition to training and work, Senger, being extremely religious , went to the local church every Sunday, where he played the organ during the service ^[6] . In 1722, Senger married Anna Molist. Five children were born in the marriage ^[7] .

In 1725, John became Bradford's business partner, after which he opened his own printing house . Senger began his independent publishing career with the publication of the first arithmetic textbook printed in American colonies ^[1] . Until 1733, his printing house published religious works, pamphlets, and books ^[4] , after which the former Attorney General of New York, James Alexander ( en: James Alexander (lawyer) ), invited Senger to publish the New York Weekly Journal , which offered to publish revealing materials directed against the incumbent governor William Cosby ( en: William Cosby ) ^[7] . The religiosity of Zenger, who saw in the governor an idolater who had forgotten God and bowed to power and wealth , did not allow him to refuse this proposal ^[6] .

After finishing the “Senger Cause” (see below), he lived in New York, continued to publish the New York Weekly Journal until his death in 1746 (later his eldest son John was involved in publishing the newspaper), having received the official status of “public publisher” in New York (in 1937) and New Jersey (1938) ^{[1] [8]} . He was buried in the cemetery of the Trinity Church in New York. ^[9] John Peter was married twice (in 1719 and 1723), the first wife died (according to other sources - officially divorced Senger shortly after the wedding ^[10] ), leaving him a son; in the second marriage, five children were born ^[9] .

The Zenger affair marked a new round in the development of the conflict between the colonists in America and the colonial government ^[11] .

In 1731, George II appointed Sir William Cosby (then acting governor of the island of Menorca ^[12] ) Governor of New York, who was rude in his conduct of business and directly resorted to illegal methods to achieve his goals, which caused a wave of indignation among influential New Yorkers ^[13] . A group of city dwellers, led by lawyer (former prosecutor) James Alexander and Lewis Morris (a judge who was removed from office by the governor for disobedience ^[14] ), turned to Senger with a proposal to publish an opposition newspaper, the first issue of which was released on November 5, 1733 ^[15] .

At the end of 1733, Zenger was suspected of libel for publishing materials defaming the honor of the incumbent New York governor William Cosby, who was exposed in articles as a corrupt official and a bribe taker (in particular, the first issue described the governor’s attempt to change the result of local elections by pressure on the sheriff and the recognition of votes cast by Quakers invalid) ^[16] . The author of the materials was not Zenger himself, but his fellow journalists ^[15] , who used pseudonyms . Only the name of the publisher remained genuine in the newspaper, which allowed him to be brought to court ^[17] . In this case, the question of the reliability or falsity of the facts was not brought up for consideration, since it was a question of the figure of the royal governor ^[2] , and by law it was only necessary to prove that Senger was the publisher ^[14] .

Law is law. The truth didn't matter.

- Edward Rutherford . New York ^[18]

On November 6, 1734, the governor organized the next public burning of the next issue of the New York Weekly Journal - at the first burning on October 22, issues 7, 47, 48 and 49 were destroyed ^[19] and awarded (unsuccessfully) a reward of 50 pounds to the one who would name the authors of the publications articles ^[12] .

For several months, Governor Cosby tried to put pressure on the courts to close the New York Weekly Journal , after which the court issued an arrest order on November 2 , and on November 17, 1734, Senger was sent to prison, where he spent almost 9 before the trial. months. Publisher’s lawyers James Alexander and William Smith were forbidden to take part in the trial ^[21] (in particular, the first was suspended for contempt of court ^[22] ), bail was also impossible due to the excessively high established by the court (under pressure Cosby) sums ^[23] . As a result, Zenger's friends and colleagues hired an outstanding lawyer from Philadelphia , Andrew Hamilton ^[24] . Throughout the journalist’s stay in prison, the newspaper continued to be regularly published by the family (mainly his wife ^[20] ) and Zenger’s supporters ^[21] .

The hearing took place on Tuesday July 29, 1735 ^[25] . James DeLancy, a friend and ally of Governor Cosby, was appointed judge. ^[13]

The prosecutor insisted exclusively on the consideration of the case from the point of view of public defamation of the governor and the colony government, regardless of the veracity of the facts set forth in article ^[25] :

The prosecutor said that he had no idea what could be said in defense of the person who had so scandalously slandered the governor, senior officials and employees of government institutions, accusing them of depriving citizens of their rights and freedoms, of eliminating the jury and, in general, of deposing the law. If this is not slander, he declared, then what?

Hamilton, as a lawyer, turned to the jury , which was an innovation: traditionally, the lawyer and the prosecutor addressed the judge in a speech, who then explained to the jury how he sees the case and recommended the corresponding verdict ^[26] , while in the case of Senger, judge James DeLancy even before the trial began pointed to the jury on the verdict he and Governor Cosby needed ^[27] . In his speech, Hamilton emphasized that this trial concerns not only one journalist and one governor, but also touches on the very foundations of freedom of the press and human freedom ^[16] :

The question put before the court and you, gentlemen of the jury, does not apply to unimportant special cases. This is not a case for one unfortunate publisher or New York alone. Not! The consequences of this proceeding may as a result affect any free person living in America under British rule. This is a fundamental question. This is a matter of freedom itself.

After the prosecutor and the lawyer spoke, the jury retired to the meeting, but ten minutes later ^[28] they returned and announced the verdict: innocent ^{[25] [29]} , despite the fact that at that time such a verdict had no legal basis ^[30] . The next day, Senger was released.

Subsequently, Governor Morris , one of the founding fathers of the United States, called this court ruling “the morning star of freedom, which subsequently radically changed America” ^[31] .

The Senger case had a number of extremely important consequences for both judicial practice and the re-evaluation of the concepts of “ law ” and “ freedom ”:

• Public statements stating reliable facts were no longer considered slanderous ^[23] . However, it took about 50 years for this precedent to be universally recognized in all American colonies ^[32] .
• They formulated, legalized and received a precedent for the foundations of freedom of the press (in particular, journalists and publishers received protection from unlawful prosecution) ^[33] .
• It has been stated that laws in force in Britain may not be applicable in the colonies. ^[33]
• Protesters against the Stamp Act in 1765 alluded to and cited Hamilton’s speech in the case of Zenger ^[22] .
• The name of John Senger was often mentioned in the debate of 1789-1791 preceding the adoption of the Bill of Rights ^[9] .
• In 1736, after the death of Governor Cosby ^[34] , A Brief History of the Case and Trial of John Peter Senger, Publisher of the New York Weekly Journal ( A Brief Narrative of the Case and Tryal of John Peter Zenger, Printer of the New- ⁾ was published. York Weekly Journal ), which was subsequently reprinted more than 20 times (most recently in 1997) ^[13] .
• In 1954, the University of Arizona established the "John Peter and Anna Katarina Zenger Prize", which is awarded once every two years (until 1998 - annually) ^{[35] to} journalists who have made a significant contribution to the struggle for freedom of the press ^[36] .

• Does not exist and never existed a single portrait of John Senger ^[3] .
• Having become governor, William Cosby, with his first decree, demanded from his deputy Rip van Dyke half the salary paid to him as acting governor before taking over Cosby himself ^{[12] [17]} .
• Despite his “negative characterization” recorded in history, William Cosby actively fought against the tearing of land from the Iroquois by wealthy New Yorkers ^[37] .
• The New York Weekly Journal is considered America's first independent political newspaper. ^[23]
• In 1951, director Paul Nickell dedicated one of the episodes of his series Studio One to the Senger case: season 3, episode 22 of January 22 (according to other sources, season 5 episode 16 of January 12 ^[38] ) - The Trial of John Peter Zenger (“The Court over John Peter Senger ”) ^[39] .

• Copy 7 of the (burnt) issue of The New York Weekly Journal
• The first page of the 18th edition of The New York Weekly Journal
• Andrew Hamilton defends John Senger (image)
• The trial of John Peter Senger (drawing by David Lithgow).
• Quotes from Andrew Hamilton's speech erroneously attributed to John Senger.

• Levy, Leonard W. Emergence of a Free Press. - New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
• Putnam, William Lowell. John Peter Zenger and the Fundamental Freedom. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1997.