Sign-In
Cart
Indelible Ink: The Trials of John Peter Zenger and the Birth of America's Free Press
Hardcover
Colonial Period (1600-1775)General Political ScienceRegional: Middle Atlantic
Currently unavailable to order
Please enter your email and a message will be sent to you when this product becomes available on our website.
ISBN13: 9780393245462
Publisher: W W Norton & Co
Published: Sep 13 2016
Pages: 368
Weight: 1.60
Height: 1.30 Width: 6.40 Depth: 9.50
Language: English
The liberty of written and spoken expression has been fixed in the firmament of our social values since our nation's beginning--the government of the United States was the first to legalize free speech and a free press as fundamental rights. But when the British began colonizing the New World, strict censorship was the iron rule of the realm; any words, true or false, that were thought to disparage the government were judged a criminally subversive--and duly punishable--threat to law and order. Even after Parliament lifted press censorship late in the seventeenth century, printers published what they wished at their peril.
So when in 1733 a small newspaper, the New-York Weekly Journal, printed scathing articles assailing the new British governor, William Cosby, as corrupt and abusive, colonial New York was scandalized. The paper's publisher, an impoverished printer named John Peter Zenger with a wife and six children, in fact had no hand in the paper's vitriolic editorial content--he was only a front man for Cosby's adversaries, New York Supreme Court Chief Justice Lewis Morris and the shrewd attorney James Alexander. Zenger nevertheless became the endeavor's courageous fall guy when Cosby brought the full force of his high office down upon it. Jailed for the better part of a year, Zenger faced a jury on August 4, 1735, in a proceeding matched in importance during the colonial period only by the Salem Witch Trials.
In Indelible Ink, acclaimed social historian Richard Kluger re-creates in rich detail this dramatic clash of powerful antagonists that marked the beginning of press freedom in America and its role in vanquishing colonial tyranny. Here is an enduring lesson that resounds to this day on the vital importance of free public expression as the underpinning of democracy.
Also in
Colonial Period (1600-1775)
Stealing America: The Hidden Story of Indigenous Slavery in U.S. History
Fisher, Linford D.
Hardcover
The Chosen and the Damned: Native Americans and the Making of Race in the United States
Silverman, David J.
Hardcover
The Treacherous World of the 16th Century & How the Pilgrims Escaped It: The Prequel to America's Freedom
Federer, William J.
Paperback
Empire and Frontier: Colonel Peter Schuyler and the Valiant Iroquois in King William's War: 1689-1701
Marquis, Samuel
Hardcover
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates
Dolin, Eric Jay
Paperback
Taking Manhattan: The Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Hardcover
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition.....
Maier, Pauline
Paperback
America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War
Bennett, William J.
Paperback
Six Women of Salem: The Untold Story of the Accused and Their Accusers in the Salem Witch Trials
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America's Founding Father (Large Print Edition)
Stark, Peter
Paperback
Heart of American Darkness: A Story of Murder and Revolution on the Early Frontier
Parkinson, Robert G.
Paperback
The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Shorto, Russell
Paperback
Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me: Debunking the False Narratives Defining America's School Curricula
Reilly, Wilfred
Hardcover
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Hardcover
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Paperback
American Colonies: The Settling of North America (the Penguin History of the United States, Volume 1)
Taylor, Alan
Paperback
General History of the Robberies & Murders of the Most Notorious Pirates
Captain Johnson, Charles
Paperback
The Intellectual Origins of American Slavery: English Ideas in the Early Modern Atlantic World
Harpham, John Samuel
Hardcover
Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
Anderson, Fred
Paperback
This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving
Silverman, David J.
Paperback
Blood and Treasure: Daniel Boone and the Fight for America's First Frontier
Clavin, Tom
Drury, Bob
Paperback
The Salem Witch Trials: A Day-By-Day Chronicle of a Community Under Siege
Roach, Marilynne K.
Paperback
The Secret Token: Myth, Obsession, and the Search for the Lost Colony of Roanoke
Lawler, Andrew
Paperback
The Secret Founding of America: The Real Story of Freemasons, Puritans, & the Battle for the New World
Hagger, Nicholas
Paperback
The Constitution of the United States (U.S. Heritage): With the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and Other Founding Documents with an I
Fathers, Founding
Washington, George
Hardcover
Fourteenth Colony: The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America's Revolutionary Era
Bunn, Mike
Hardcover
The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675
Bailyn, Bernard
Paperback
Scots and Scotch Irish: Frontier Life in North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky
Hoefling, Larry J.
Paperback
The Devil in Massachusetts: A Modern Enquiry into the Salem Witch Trials
Starkey, Marion L.
Paperback
The World Hunt: An Environmental History of the Commodification of Animals
Richards, John F.
Paperback
King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict
Tougias, Michael J.
Schultz, Eric B.
Paperback
The Pueblo Revolt: The Secret Rebellion That Drove the Spaniards Out of the Southwest
Roberts, David
Paperback
A Stranger Among Saints: Stephen Hopkins, the Man Who Survived Jamestown and Saved Plymouth
Mack, Jonathan
Paperback
The Muse of the Revolution: The Secret Pen of Mercy Otis Warren and the Founding of a Nation
Stuart, Nancy Rubin
Paperback
Directory of Scots Banished to the American Plantations, 1650-1775. Second Edition (Revised)
Dobson, David
Paperback
By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire
Lamotte, Mélanie
Hardcover
Scars on the Land: An Environmental History of Slavery in the American South
Silkenat, David
Hardcover
The First Emancipator: Slavery, Religion, and the Quiet Revolution of Robert Carter
Levy, Andrew
Paperback
A Brief History of the Salem Witch Trials - Witchcraft Hysteria and Justice in 17th Century Massachusetts
Matthews, Scott
Paperback
Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution
Preston, David L.
Paperback
America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation
Davis, Kenneth C.
Paperback
God's Solution for America and the Nations of the World: This is a Spiritual Revolution!
Hertler, David Carl
Hallahan Hertler, Jean
Paperback
The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony
Gragg, Rod
Paperback
Vignettes of Colonial Virginia: Remarkable Stories from the Founding of America
Tarter, Brent
Paperback
The Road That Made America: A Modern Pilgrim's Journey on the Great Wagon Road
Dodson, James
Paperback
Miracle on the Mayflower: John Howland's Remarkable Rescue and Lasting Impact on America
Hogg, Cynthia Howard
Hardcover
Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence (Illustrated): Updated with Index and 80 Rare, Historical Photos
Lewis, Thomas W.
Goodrich, Charles Augustus
Hardcover
A Journal of the Voyages and Travels of a Corps of Discovery Under the Command of Captain Lewis and Captain Clarke of the Army of the United States [m
Gass, Patrick 1771-1870
Paperback
The History of South Carolina: Its European Discovery and Colonization, Battles with the Native Americans, the Revolutionary War of Independence, and
Simms, William Gilmore
Paperback
The Ancient House: Constructing Community in the Seventeenth-Century New York Borderlands
Kramer, Erin B.
Paperback
The Deerfield Massacre: A Surprise Attack and the Fight for Survival in Early America
Swanson, James L.
Paperback
Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty
Barry, John M.
Paperback
Jane Colden's Botanic Manuscript: The Legacy of America's First Woman Botanist
Heckscher, Fenella Greig
Hardcover
The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America
Weidensaul, Scott
Hardcover
Covered with Night: A Story of Murder and Indigenous Justice in Early America
Eustace, Nicole
Paperback
American History Bite-Sized: The Making of the USA in Over 150 Moments
Rattle, Alison
Vale, Allison
Hardcover
Creatures of Empire: How Domestic Animals Transformed Early America
Anderson, Virginia DeJohn
Paperback
War on the Turtle's Back: Indigenous Peoples During the Period of the Seven Years War in North America, 1752-1766
Burrows, Laurence
Hardcover
U.S. History 101: Historic Events, Key People, Important Locations, and More!
Sears, Kathleen
Hardcover
Fort Niagara: The Key to the Inland Oceans and the French Movement to Dominate North America
Utley, William Edward
Scott, Patricia Kay
Paperback
A Canoe Named Klmin: Sixth-, Seventh-, Eighth-, and Ninth-Generation Family Members of Captain William Clark Right a Wrong
Holton, Carlota Hermann
Robinson, Sam
Pearlmutter, Eve
Hardcover
King George's War and the Thirty Year Peace: The Third Contest for North America
Laramie, Michael G.
Hardcover
An Infinity of Nations: How the Native New World Shaped Early North America
Witgen, Michael
Paperback
Forest Diplomacy: Cultures in Conflict on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1757
Proctor, Nicolas W.
Paperback
Robert Love's Warnings: Searching for Strangers in Colonial Boston
Dayton, Cornelia H.
Salinger, Sharon V.
Paperback
The Salem Witch Hunt: A Captivating Guide to the Hunt and Trials of People Accused of Witchcraft in Colonial Massachusetts
History, Captivating
Hardcover
War on the Run: The Epic Story of Robert Rogers and the Conquest of America's First Frontier
Ross, John F.
Paperback
American History: Celebrating 250 Years of Hidden Stories, Forgotten Heroes, and the Nation They Built
Alive, History Brought
Hardcover
The Colonial Tavern: A Glimpse of New England Town Life - a Social History of America's Bars in the 1600s and 1700s
Field, Edward
Paperback
In God I Trust: Making Our National Motto My Personal Declaration
Teichert, John Dragon
Wells, Brad
Paperback
Black Lives, Native Lands, White Worlds: A History of Slavery in New England
Hardesty, Jared Ross
Paperback
Revolution by Fire: New York's Afro-Irish Uprising of 1741, a Graphic Novel
Rediker, Marcus
Lester, David
Paperback
The Indian World of George Washington: The First President, the First Americans, and the Birth of the Nation
Calloway, Colin G.
Paperback
The Salem Witch Hunt: A Captivating Guide to the Hunt and Trials of People Accused of Witchcraft in Colonial Massachusetts
History, Captivating
Paperback
The Atlantic Republic of Letters: Knowledge and Colonialism in the Age of Franklin
Pirillo, Diego
Hardcover
Rum Punch and Revolution: Taverngoing and Public Life in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia
Thompson, Peter
Paperback