Teaching Guide
Please refer to the module Teaching
Guide for additional information.
Lesson summary
Instructional use
Pre-lesson activity
Standards covered by this lesson
Selected bibliography
Assessment
Lesson summary
John Peter Zenger was a printer in New York who was approached by local
politicians looking for a publisher. They had an axe to grind with the
governor and wanted to publish information about him that was unfavorable
-- but true. Zenger agreed to be their printer and ended up in jail for
seditious libel. Zenger’s son tells the story of how his father
was acquitted when Andrew Hamilton came up with a bold defense that questioned
the role of the press in a free society. The story emphasizes the 1st
Amendment, freedom of the press.
Instructional use
Please refer to the module Teaching
Guide for instructional use scenarios.
Pre-lesson activity
It is recommended that teachers preview the lesson to identify
concepts that may need to be reviewed before students begin. Concepts
include the freedom of the press and the role of the media in a free society.
Teachers may also wish to create a vocabulary/spelling list for terms
found in this lesson.
Teachers may want to pose some questions to students before getting started:
Do you think it's important for the press to publish anything they want
against the government? In what cases do you think it would be wrong to
publish negative information about the government? Who do you think should
be held responsible when a newspaper publishes something wrong about a
person or the government? What are the benefits of "freedom of the
press" to society?
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Standards covered by this lesson
Refer to the module Teaching
Guide for list a Language Arts goals covered by all WebDocent lessons.
Grades 7-8 Social Science and American History
Illinois State Goal 14
Understand, analyze, and compare political systems
with an emphasis on the United States.
Illinois State Goal 16
Understand and analyze events, trends, individuals, and movements shaping
the history of Illinois, the United States, and other nations.
Selected bibliography
Thomas Isaiah. History of Printing, Vol. 2. (Newberry Library Ruggles
Collection 332)
http://WWW.harwich.edu
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/zenger.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/zengerrecord.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/zengeraccount.html
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/nullification.html
http://www.historybuff.com/library/refzenger.html
http://www.pittsford.monroe.edu/directory/~decarlo/zenger.htm
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/history/Zenger.htm
Assessment
Refer to the module Teaching
Guide for an explanation of the online journal for assessment purposes.
See the Additional Activities page for ideas
for extending the lesson offline.
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