Les Cheneaux Fifth Grade Students Learn About Libel; Reenact Zenger Trial

Playing the judge at a historic libel trial in 1730s New England, Isabel Brumleve (at podium) hears the case of the defendant, John Peter Zenger, portrayed by Teddy Bowlby (counterclockwise from Miss Brumleve). The other reenactors include (counterclockwise from Mr. Bowlby) Molly Fagan as Mr. Zenger's attorney, Morgan St. Andrew as the Royal GovernorWilliam Cosby, and Tanner Reppenhagen as a member of the jury.

One of the notable historic cases attributed to fortifying the freedom of the press in America was the John Peter Zenger trial and judgment of the 1700s. Fifth grade students at Les Cheneaux Elementary School learned about the trial as part of their social studies lessons, and brought the trial to life through a reenactment of the play March 13.

John Peter Zenger was publisher of The New York Weekly Journal, one of the United States' first independent political papers in the colony of New York during the 1730s. At the time, the colony was under British rule, and writers for The New York Weekly Journal wrote articles critical of the government. An article on Governor William Cosby, who replaced the Chief Justice of New York, for deciding a lawsuit against the governor, was published by Mr. Zenger in his newspaper. Governor Cosby sued the newspaper for printing and publishing "several seditious libels," which he claimed disrupted the lives of the New York residents by "inflaming their minds with contempt of His Majesty's government, and greatly disturbing the peace thereof," according to the bench warrant for arrest of Mr. Zenger, from November 2, 1734.

Portraying Governor Cosby, fifth grade student Morgan St. Andrew arrested and brought Mr. Zenger, played by Teddy Bowlby, to trial. Isabel Brumleve played the judge who heard the case, and Molly Fagan portrayed Mr. Zenger's defense attorney, Andrew Hamilton, in court, making the case that statements published in the paper could not be libelous if they were true.

English law over colonies at the time protected the government from criticism and claimed "truth was not a defense to libel." The jury of "common people," played by Tanner Reppenhagen and Ashley Sherlund, reenacted the jurors' decision that Mr. Zenger was not guilty of the charges, and could publish critical statements if they were true, thus redefining libel and slander in the United States. Fifth grade teacher Kathy Tassier explained to students the trial also laid the foundation for the responsibilities of both media and government in a democracy.

Mrs. Tassier taught the students an easy way to remember the meaning of libel.

"The people in the colony said, here in the new colonies, we have a new definition of libel: Only if it's a lie can it be libel," she said. "There is no libel if the truth is told."

Following the trial reenactment, Mrs. Tassier and the students discussed the trial's influence on media coverage today. With freedom of the press comes responsibility to tell the truth, and students discussed some high profile stories printed in the media recently that may or may not be considered libelous.

Acting out events from history helps bring the events to life for students, Mrs. Tassier said, and the students have also presented reenactments of the Salem Witch Trials and Bacon's Rebellion during studies on Colonial America.