One of most significant court cases in the city's history took place in the 1730's. John Peter Zenger, who had apprenticed with William Bradford, began printing his own newspaper--The Weekly Journal. It was a paper supported by activists opposed to the current administration and it took aim at both the new royal governor, William Cosby, and James De Lancey, the new chief justice appointed by Cosby.
Cosby and De Lancey tried to shut down Zenger's press by ordering the arrest of Zenger for "seditious libel." De Lancey set an excessive bail and Zenger remained in jail at City Hall (on the present-day site of Federal Hall) for eight months (from November, 1734, until his trial in August, 1735). This was an extremely controversial imprisonment. His wife kept the printing press running, and Zenger's allies prepared his defense, hiring Andrew Hamilton, an attorney from Philadelphia.
At the time, libel was very easy to prosecute. "Seditious libel" involved the printing of anything that undermined the government, but Andrew Hamilton, introduced a radical argument in the court room. He invoked the jury to take into account whether or not the articles were true or false. If they were true, then Zenger had a right to publish; otherwise, the people could never criticize their rulers.
De Lancey told the jury to stick to the original law, but the jury came back minutes later to dismiss all charges against Zenger. You can hear the Revolution coming in the jury's rejection of the judge's instructions as well as in the language used in the courtroom (e.g., "liberty" and "freemen" and "natural rights").
The case would have repercussions well beyond Wall and Broad Streets. A book written about the case (and printed by Zenger) would become the first successful book published in New York--read on both sides of the ocean--and the ideas put forth by Andrew Hamilton and supported by the jury still serve today as a litmus test for a government's freedom of the press.
ALSO DURING THIS DECADE:
1730--The population of New York is 8,622.
1732--The city's first theater opens near Maiden Lane.
1732--Three private citizens lease the open area in front of the old fort and promise to lay out a Bowling-Green with pleasant walks for the enjoyment of the citizens. Some claim this is the first public park in America.
1736--The city's first permanent almshouse opens.
Sources: Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace; The Blue Guide New York by Carol von Pressentin Wright, Stuart Miller, and Sharon Seitz.
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