Changes

1700-1750:  [[salutary neglect]].  Colonies during this time were very different from each other.  The same is true today with respect to homeschooling.  If we were holding this class just 50 miles west in Pennsylvania, each of us would have to register each year with our school district, take tests, and follow a state curriculum.  But we do not have to do any of that in New Jersey.

1700-1750:  [[salutary neglect]].  Colonies during this time were very different from each other.  The same is true today with respect to homeschooling.  If we were holding this class just 50 miles west in Pennsylvania, each of us would have to register each year with our school district, take tests, and follow a state curriculum.  But we do not have to do any of that in New Jersey.

Freedoms in the colonies varied widely also.  In the colony of New York, for example, [[John Peter Zenger]] got in big trouble for publishing something critical of the governor.  The New York governor demanded that Zenger be prosecuted and thrown in jail for criticizing him.  Zenger was put on trial.  On the first day of the trial, a good defense attorney from Philadelphia appeared to defend Zenger for free.  The defense attorney argued to the jury that it should not be a crime to say something that is true, even though it may embarrass the governor.  The judge told the jury that the law says that can be a crime called “libel”.  But the jury ignored the law and held in favor of Zenger:  “not guilty.”  This case established the very important right unique to America:  the right of freedom of the press.  To this day we have that right in America.

Freedoms in the colonies varied widely also.  In the colony of New York, for example, [[John Peter Zenger]] got in big trouble for publishing something critical of the governor.  The New York governor demanded that Zenger be prosecuted and thrown in jail for criticizing him.  Zenger was put on trial.  On the first day of the trial, a good defense attorney from Philadelphia appeared to defend Zenger for free.  The defense attorney argued to the jury that it should not be a crime to say something that is true, even though it may embarrass the governor.  The judge told the jury that the law says that can be a crime called “libel”.  But the jury ignored the law and held in favor of Zenger:  “not guilty.”  This case established the very important right unique to America:  the right of freedom of the press.  To this day we have that right in America, but those in England do not have this right.

The case helped convince Americans of the importance of the right to a jury trial, which was later written into our Constitution.

The case helped convince Americans of the importance of the right to a jury trial, which was later written into our Constitution.