John Peter Zenger
| John Peter Zenger | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 26, 1697 Impflingen, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany |
| Died |
July 28, 1746 (aged 48) New York City |
| Occupation | Newspaper writer |
| Years active | 1720-1746 |
| Known for | Zenger case |
| Notable work | The New York Weekly Journal |
John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a German American printer and journalist in New York City. Zenger printed The New York Weekly Journal. Zenger was accused of libel in 1734 by the governor of New York. The jury acquitted Zenger, who became a symbol for freedom of the press.
In 1733, Zenger began printing The New York Weekly Journal, in which he voiced opinions critical of the colonial governor, William Cosby. On November 17, 1734, on Cosby's orders, the sheriff arrested Zenger. After a grand jury refused to indict him, the Attorney General Richard Bradley charged him with libel in August 1735.
Zenger's lawyers, Andrew Hamilton and William Smith, Sr., successfully argued that truth is a defense against charges of libel.
Peter Zenger was born in 1697, the son of Nicolaus Eberhard Zenger and his wife Johanna. His father was a school teacher in Impflingen in 1701. The Zenger family had other children baptised in Rumbach in 1697 and in 1703 and in Waldfischbach in 1706. The Zenger family immigrated to New York in 1710 as part of a large group of German Palatines, and Nicolaus Zenger was one of those who died before settlement. The governor of New York had agreed to provide apprenticeships for all the children of immigrants from the Palatinate, and John Peter was bound for eight years as an apprentice to William Bradford, the first printer in New York. By 1720, he was taking on printing work in Maryland, though he returned to New York permanently by 1722. After a brief partnership with Bradford in 1725, Zenger set up as a commercial printer on Smith Street in Manhattan.
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