• Features
  • Books
  • Teaching
  • Digital & Film
  • Blog
  • IHS
  • Texas
  • Spotlight
  • About

The past is never dead. It's not even past

Not Even Past

Student Showcase – Truth is a Defense: John Peter Zenger and Freedom of the Press

Jonathan M. Garcia
Ross S. Sterling High School
Senior Division
Individual Exhibit

Read Jonathan’s Process Paper

John Peter Zenger may not be a household name today, but he was a crucial figure in the history of free press in America. In 1734, authorities in New York City arrested the German immigrant for criticizing the colonial government in his newspaper, The New York Weekly Journal. However, no jury ever convicted Zenger, a major victory for Zenger and his right to print freely.

Jonathan M. Garcia designed an exhibit outlining this remarkable journalist and his contributions to American history. Jonathan talked about how he came to this topic in his process paper:

John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger

My topic, rights and responsibilities of the press, relates to this year’s theme, “Rights and Responsibilities in History” in many ways. Freedom of the press comes with rights and responsibilities. In the 1700s, American journalists did have the freedom that exists today. John Peter Zenger, a German immigrant, printed The New York Weekly Journal and was put on trial for libel because he published articles that questioned the government and its integrity. Zenger was found not guilty. This trial was an important step toward the freedom of the American press. However, freedom of the press was not truly known until the First Amendment was passed. Once the First Amendment was passed, publishers felt that they were able to express their views more freely. A democracy cannot exist in the modern world without free press.

Another section of Jonathan's exhibit
A section of Jonathan’s Texas History Day exhibit

The press is an essential weapon against a corrupt government who holds power. Newspapers and other forms of media allow for ideas, even those that voice opposition. However, with these rights does come responsibilities. Today, some people feel the press has too much freedom and question how much is too much information. Celebrities and politicians often fear the paparazzi and having their private lives exposed for everyone to see. The rights of journalists have increased since John Peter Zenger was a publisher and now the responsibilities of the press are even more important for keeping the public informed without overstepping rights to privacy.


More great work from Texas high school and middle school students:

The story of the “little lady who wrote the book that started this great war”

The harsh world of migrant work during the Great Depression

And the history behind one of New Orleans’s most iconic neighborhoods

 

Recent Posts

  • IHS Workshop: “Whose Decolonization? The Collection of Andean Ancestors and the Silences of American History” by Christopher Heaney, Pennsylvania State University
  • Converting “Latinos” during Salem’s Witch Trials: A Review of Cotton Mather’s Spanish Lessons: A Story of Language, Race, and Belonging in the Early Americas (2022) by Kirsten Silva Gruesz
  • Breaking ChatGPT: Good Teaching Still Beats the Best AI
  • Remembering Rio Speedway
  • Fear Not the Bot: ChatGPT as Just One More Screwdriver in the Tool Kit
NOT EVEN PAST is produced by

The Department of History

The University of Texas at Austin

We are supported by the College of Liberal Arts
And our Readers

Donate
Contact

All content © 2010-present NOT EVEN PAST and the authors, unless otherwise noted

Sign up to receive our MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

  • Features
  • Books
  • Teaching
  • Digital & Film
  • Blog
  • IHS
  • Texas
  • Spotlight
  • About