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128 PERIOD 2 Colonial America amid Global Change: 1607–1754

In the mid-eighteenth century, colonists protested with increasing force against
many aspects of colonial life that they found unsatisfying. The issues repeatedly raised,
These sample pages are distributed by Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
the political responses that failed to fully address them, and resultant further protest
show a pattern of dissent and discontent with deep roots.
Beginning in the 1730s, conflicts among the elite led astute political leaders in cit-
ies like New York and Philadelphia to seek support from a wider constituency, channel-
Copyright (c) 2024 Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers.
ing the “popular” will for their own ends. In 1731, for instance, a new royal charter
confirmed New York City’s existence as a “corporation” and stipulated the rights of free-
men (residents who could vote in local elections after paying a small fee) and freehold-
ers (individuals, whether residents or not, who held property worth £40 and could vote
on that basis). A large number of artisans, shopkeepers, and laborers had the financial
means to vote, and shopkeepers and master craftsmen now sat alongside wealthier men
on the Common Council. Yet most laboring men did not participate actively in elections
until 1733, when local elites aimed to mobilize the mass of voters against royal officials,
like New York Governor William Cosby, who had been appointed in London.
Opponents took their case to the people, who were in the midst of a serious eco-
nomic depression. They launched an opposition newspaper, published by a man named
John Peter Zenger, to mobilize artisans, shopkeepers, and laborers around an agenda to
stimulate the economy and elect men supportive of workers to the Common Council. In
his New-York Weekly Journal, Zenger boldly accused Governor Cosby and his cronies of
corruption, incompetence, election fraud, and tyranny, leading to Zenger’s indictment
seditious for seditious libel and his imprisonment in November 1734.
Describing behavior or At the time, libel related only to whether published material undermined govern-
language aimed at starting ment authority, not whether it was true or false. Zenger’s lead attorney, Andrew Hamil-
a rebellion against a ton of Philadelphia, argued that truth must be recognized as a defense against charges
government.
of libel. Appealing to the jury, Hamilton proclaimed, “It is not the cause of a poor printer,
nor of New York alone, which you are now trying. . . . It is the best cause. It is the cause
libel Strictly for use with its products. NOT FOR REDISTRIBUTION.
A false written statement of liberty.” In response, jurors ignored the law as written and found Zenger not guilty.
designed to damage the Although the decision in Zenger’s case did not lead to a change in British libel laws, it did
reputation of its subject. signal the willingness of colonial juries to side with fellow colonists against the king and Par-
liament in at least some situations. Zenger’s journalistic challenge to ruling power, and the
ability of the political movement he championed to inspire ordinary freemen to participate
in elections, foreshadowed political developments near the end of the eighteenth century.
For the time being, however, even as freemen gained a greater voice in urban politics and
newspapers readily attacked corrupt officials whose actions posed threats to the liberties of the
British colonists, challenges to the powerful could succeed only when the elite were divided.
The rising inequality of wealth was especially apparent in the largest cities of British
North America — New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Charleston — but economic distinc-
tions were also growing in smaller cities and towns. As the price of some goods, such as sugar
and tobacco, fell in the 1750s, more colonists were able to afford them. At the same time,
the expansion of transatlantic trade ensured that wealthier colonists had growing access to
silver plates, clocks, tea services, bed and table linens, and other luxury goods. With British
exporters extending more credit to colonial merchants and affluent white consumers, the
division between rich and poor became increasingly visible to colonists of all backgrounds.

REVIEW

■ How did politics and religion bring colonists together across economic
lines in the first half of the eighteenth century?
■ How did religion and politics highlight and reinforce class divisions
during this era?

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