The concept of "freedom of expression" first came into play in Britain back in the sixteenth century. The British and colonial American governments both viewed it as a threat, and thus disallowed anyone to defame the government and its officials, a crime known as "seditious libel". On the other hand, newspapers vehemently defended this freedom, claiming it was the basis upon which public liberty was founded. Yet, only a few journalists and newspapers dared to attempt libel.
The first major event in the development of freedom of expression was the trial of John Peter Zenger, a German immigrant to America who worked as a printer in New York, in 1735. Zenger printed for a newspaper called the "New York Weekly Journal". This publication targeted the government of New York, namely the corrupt governor, William Cosby. It accused Cosby of rigging elections and working with the French, among other crimes. In response, Zenger was thrown in jail despite merely being the printer of such articles, not writing them himself. He managed to keep secret the anonymous identities of the authors who he worked with. Since he refused to rat out his coworkers, he was promptly accused of libel and put on trial.
At trial, the jury was filled with supporters of Cosby. However, Zenger's wife was able to get them replaced with unbiased citizens through her continued reports while Zenger was in jail. Zenger's lawyer attacked the prosecution with a brilliant strategy. He aimed for the cause of liberty overall, instead of the specific situation at hand. He readily admitted that Zenger printed the articles, but demanded Zenger's release. Sure enough, the verdict was "not guilty".
Zenger became a national hero from this singular event, and newspapers everywhere felt secure enough to publish whatever they pleased. This increasing demonstration of freedom of speech and press would later play a key role in the American Revolution, and its effect would be felt years later. It influenced the Constitutional Convention of 1787, and also came up in 1804, when the same lawyer who defended Zenger used his case to defend Harry Croswell, a journalist who at the time had made serious accusations against President Thomas Jefferson. The guidelines for the First Amendment had been set in stone, and the Sedition Act of 1798 was passed as well. Although these did not do much to impede the progress of the Anti-Federalists and Jefferson, they still sparked a nation-wide debate on free speech, and even inspired James Madison and Jefferson themselves in their further pursuits on the matter. This concept of freedom of expression would eventually be implemented into the laws of not just New York, but many other states as well.
Looking past what happened centuries ago, freedom of expression is still a key topic in today's world. With the rise of social media and influx of hate speech, the debate over how the issue should be handled runs rampant. On one side of things, the crisis of the abuse of this freedom is illustrated all throughout the university campuses in America. At the same time, countries like Nepal and Myanmar are currently working towards amending their laws regarding the matter and promoting the freedom. Overall, in light of the wide range of opinions and takes on freedom of expression, it will be interesting to see what happens with this seemingly fundamental human right.
Sources:
https://www.famous-trials.com/zenger/94-freespeech
https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1235/john-peter-zenger
http://www.ushistory.org/us/7c.asp
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed how you were able to talk about the development of freedom of expression through Zenger's trial. Another example in history that showed the development of free speech was the Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). One of these acts criminalized making false statements that were critical of the federal government. The Federalist majority in Congress passed it, despite the Republican minority complaining that this act violated freedom of speech and freedom of the press. The Federalists' reason for passing this was that English and American courts had long punished seditious libel under common law, as you mentioned earlier in your post. From 1798 to 1801, at least 26 individuals were prosecuted under the Sedition Act, and many were the editors of Republican newspapers. The prosecutions caused there to be a furious debate over the meaning of a free press.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you were able to string the past events of history into the current conflicts regarding the same topic around the world. Like mentioned above, even the founding fathers themselves at times ignored the literal meanings of the first amendment they signed into place. Early examples of this during the 18th century include the Alien and Sedition Acts as mentioned above. Continuing into the 19th century prior to the American Civil War, laws limited the expression and speech of abolitionist, suffragists, and labor organizers. People living in the southern states especially were in danger of being put into prison if they spoke or wrote on the fact that slaves should not be considered property. Even through the 20th century, people advocating for women suffrage, protesting against entering into WW1, or even reading the First Amendment during a "union rally" were often times arrested. This, to a certain extent, is still an issue in our current society, politically and socially.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.aclu.org/other/freedom-expression