The year was 1735, and the defendant appearing in court was a New York printer accused of publishing scathing criticisms of Royal Governor William Cosby. English common law recognized a legal concept known as “seditious libel,” but common law did not make a difference between an accurate statement and an unfounded accusation. In fact, the legal maxim was “The greater the truth, the greater the libel,” because truthful criticism had even more power to damage the government’s reputation. The charge to the jury in such a case was only to decide if the defendant had printed the words; the royal judge would decide if the words were libelous.
But John Peter Zenger’s attorney, Andrew Hamilton, chose a different defense. In a uniquely strategic move, Hamilton bypassed the judge and, facing the jury, presented his case directly to them instead. His argument — that truth must always be a defense against libel — was accompanied by his assertion that free men have a “natural right” to complain about abuse of power.
That jury defied the royal judge’s charge and instead acquitted Zenger. This historic trial established the American legal principle that the press functions as the watchdog over the government. Think Pentagon Papers and others...
When James Madison drafted the First Amendment in 1789, he considered the Zenger case as the primary historical precedent that justified protecting political speech by individuals from criminal prosecution, and freedom of speech and the press became bedrock principles of the Republic.
And then, just two years before the French and Indian War began in 1756, the proposed Albany Plan of Union, drafted primarily by Benjamin Franklin, advanced the strategy of a unified and centralized government for the British colonies in North America. This need for a coordinated military and defense against the mounting threats from the French was the first major proposal to bring the individual colonies together as a single unit.
What changes did the Albany Plan propose? A chief executive officer would be appointed by the British Crown and supported by the 13 colonies, granting that person veto power and military command. A 48-member intercolonial legislature would be chosen by the colonial assemblies. Each colony would be apportioned from two to seven delegates based on the colony’s financial contributions to the treasury. This legislature would manage trade issues, land purchases, treaties with native peoples, military forces, westward expansion, construction of forts, and the levying of taxes.
Franklin promoted the Albany Plan with his iconic political cartoon “JOIN OR DIE” in the Pennsylvania newspapers.
But the proposal itself died.
Why? The colonial assemblies feared a lessening of their own power and sovereignty. The British Crown refused to even consider the plan because it threatened the “royal prerogative” by granting the colonies too much autonomy.
While the Albany Plan failed, its ideas influenced the structure of the Articles of Confederation less than three decades later. Proportional representation, an executive, and a combined legislative body are each elements that would eventually find themselves in the Articles and later the U.S. Constitution. I often imagine Franklin sitting in the Constitutional Convention with a smile and a nod as his original ideas finally gained support.
What had shaped Franklin’s idea of a “federal” system? Not any governmental system in Europe. Instead, our multitalented Founding Father looked to the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee) and found the concept of “STRENGTH THROUGH UNITY.” The Six Nations of the Confederacy — Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora — had operated under a unified constitution called the Great Law of Peace for more than 300 years. Each indigenous nation maintained internal sovereignty but yielded to the centralized body for issues such as mutual defense and foreign policy. The governing body would gather at a common fire, debate freely, and peacefully resolve inter-tribal disputes.
Franklin especially liked the concept of the Iroquois Confederacy — that a single arrow is easily broken, but a bundle of arrows tied together is unbreakable. He translated that concept into his severed snake, but the original Iroquois idea lives on.
Look closely at the Great Seal of the United States. The bundle of arrows clutched by the eagle is a constant reminder that unity based on the Rule of Law is critical to the survival of the Republic.
