The trial of John Peter Zenger lead to the beginning of a very large step for America during there rule under the British. Working as a printer for the New York Weekly Journal John Zenger was in charge of publicizing information for the New York colonist. In this time the colonists were under strict scrutiny having to limit what is said in the pubic eye. This idea did not allow the people of New York to get a full understanding on who and how their leaders were conducting themselves politically. Poor use of appointed government power by the King began to catch the attention of many. The leaders placed in power by the King were only there due to their connections and family ties. Once other officials in power caught on to these wrongful acts …show more content…
This sense of government gave most of the British leaders a sense of invincibility allowing them to do things that were not always right. The only thing that mattered to them was power not how they used it. William Cosby was a prime example of this abuse of power. Building himself up as a military officer he eventually became governor of a small island in the Mediterranean which began his bad reputation as a leader. Cosby was caught illegally seizing goods from a Portuguese merchant leading him straight into debt. This action left him with no where to go until he found out New York was in need of a new governor. Due to how many connections his wife had it was not long before he finally landed the position. Hungry for money Cosby attempted to regulate the importation of sugar thinking it would affect the economy of New York. Cosby slowly began making money from taxes and fees of land while he was still in England. As he returned to New York legislature promised him five years of salary. This was not enough for him so he decided that more money should be awarded to him. This was the straw that broke the camels back angering many New Yorkers and political …show more content…
Morris went on to state that he had no power to hear the case along with the colonies supreme court. Morris went on to say that three courts did not have the authority to sit in because they all had so much power it would not even make sense. Cosby wanted him to explain this reasoning, this led to Morris asking John Zenger to publish his ideas for the whole colony to read making it the first opposition in press America has seen. Immediately after the publication of this Cosby saw it as a political attack. In reaction to this Cosby challenged the political power of those in favor of this idea. Cosby decided to pursue an indictment on John Zenger for being the sole reason this slander was published. This began to define what type of case it was, the question of how could someone do so wrong just by publishing the truth of government officials was the center of attention. It all came from political protection, by putting John Zenger in jail he had stopped the way the information was being publicized. Cosby was only worried about his reputation rather then those opposing him. Seeing all of the problems that came from incarcerating John Zenger and Alexander, Cosby decided that Chief Justice Morris would also be detrimental to his power. The decision to remove Morris was made without question illegally. Smith and Alexander who were lawyers of John Zenger were then disbarred without question in