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James De Lancey
James De Lancey (November 27, 1703 – July 30, 1760) was an American politician from the colonial period who served as chief justice, lieutenant governor, and acting colonial governor of the Province of New York. Early life and education De Lancey was born in New York City on November 27, 1703, the first son of Étienne de Lancy and Anne, a daughter of Stephanus Van Cortlandt. James went to England for his schooling, and to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, where he was tutored by future Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Herring, before studying law at the Inner Temple, London. Having been admitted to the bar in 1725, he returned to New York to practice law and enter politics. Career Also in 1729, De Lancey was made a member of the New York Assembly, and in 1731 was appointed as second justice of the Supreme Court of New York. In 1730, De Lancey was chosen to lead a commission to frame a new charter for the City of New York. Passed into law in 1732 by the New Yo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
List Of Colonial Governors Of New York
The territory which would later become the state of New York (state), New York was settled by European colonization of the Americas, European colonists as part of the New Netherland colony (parts of present-day New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware) under the command of the Dutch West India Company in the Seventeenth Century. These colonists were largely of Dutch people, Dutch, Flemish people, Flemish, Walloons, Walloon, and Germans, German stock, but the colony soon became a "melting pot." In 1664, at the onset of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, English forces under Richard Nicolls ousted the Dutch from control of New Netherland, and the territory became part of several different English colonies. Despite one brief year when the Dutch Reconquest of New Netherland, retook the colony (1673–1674), New York would remain an English and later British possession until the Thirteen Colonies, American colonies declared independence in 1776. With the unification of the two proprieta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
New York Executive Council
The New York Executive Council (also known as the King's Council or Governor's Council), was the upper house of the supreme legislative body A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers o ... of the Province of New York during its period of Proprietary colony, proprietal colonialship while it was a crown colony. It was in effect until April 3, 1775, when the government disbanded after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. History The Governor's Council was first convened in 1683 during the governorship of Thomas Dongan, 2nd Earl of Limerick, which passed an act entitled "Charter of Liberties and Privileges, A Charter of Liberties" that decreed that the supreme legislative power under the James II of England, Duke of York (later King James II of England, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
George Clinton (Royal Navy Officer)
Admiral of the Fleet George Clinton (c. 1686 – 10 July 1761) was a Royal Navy officer and politician. Benefiting from the patronage of Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, he served as a naval captain during the 1720s and 1730s. Clinton went on to be Governor of the Colony of Newfoundland, Commodore and Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet and then Governor of the Province of New York where he had to deal with the threat of a French attack during King George's War. He could not cope with the liberal politicians of the New York assembly who were led by James De Lancey and resigned in 1753. Clinton also served as Member of Parliament for Saltash, a rotten borough in Cornwall, from March 1757 until his death in July 1761. Early career Born the second son of Francis Clinton, 6th Earl of Lincoln, and Susan Clinton (née Penninston), Clinton joined the Royal Navy in 1708 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Clinton enjoyed the patronage of Thomas Pel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Jury Nullification In The United States
In the United States, jury nullification occurs when a jury in a criminal case reaches a verdict contrary to the weight of evidence, sometimes because of a disagreement with the relevant law. It has its origins in colonial America under British law. The American jury draws its power of nullification from its right to render a general verdict in criminal trials, the inability of criminal courts to direct a verdict no matter how strong the evidence, the Fifth Amendment's Double Jeopardy Clause, which prohibits the appeal of an acquittal, and the fact that jurors cannot be punished for the verdict they return. In practice The tradition of jury nullification in the United States has its roots in the British legal system, specifically in a 1670 English case where Quakers were acquitted by a jury of violating a law that permitted religious assemblies only under the Church of England. In 1735, journalist John Peter Zenger was acquitted in New York by a jury that nullified a law making it ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Andrew Hamilton (lawyer)
Andrew Hamilton (1676 – August 4, 1741) was a Scottish lawyer in the Thirteen Colonies who settled in Philadelphia. He was best known for his legal victory on behalf of the printer and newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger. His involvement with the 1735 decision in New York helped to establish that truth is a defense to an accusation of libel. His eloquent defense concluded with saying that the press has "a liberty both of exposing and opposing tyrannical power by speaking and writing truth." His success in this case has been said to have inspired the now-archaic term "Philadelphia lawyer", meaning a particularly adept and clever attorney, as in "It would take a Philadelphia lawyer to get him off." His estate in Philadelphia, known as Bush Hill, was inherited by his son, William Hamilton, who leased it for use as the vice-president's house during the years that the city was the temporary capital of the United States. Early life Hamilton was believed to be born in the Kingdom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
William Smith (judge, Born 1697)
William Smith (8 October 1697 – 22 November 1769) was an American lawyer and jurist. Life Smith was born on 8 October 1697 in Newport Pagnell in England. He was the eldest of five sons born to Thomas Smith (1675–1745) and Susanna (née Odell) Smith (1675–1729). In 1715, he emigrated with his family to New York where his father became one of the founders of the First Presbyterian Church (Manhattan), First Presbyterian Church on Wall Street, inviting Jonathan Edwards (theologian), Jonathan Edwards to serve as minister. Once in America, Smith studied religion, law and the classics at Yale College, graduating in 1719. Career After his graduation from Yale, he worked as a tutor there before being offered the President of Yale University, presidency when he was 27 years old. Smith declined the offer, in order to begin a law practice in New York City. In 1751, he was appointed Attorney General of New York, followed by an appointment as a member of the Governor's Council, servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
James Alexander (lawyer)
James Alexander (May 27, 1691 – April 2, 1756) was a Scottish-born lawyer and politician in colonial New York. He served in the Colonial Assembly and as attorney general of the colony in 1721–23. His son William was later a major general in the Continental Army during the American revolution. Alexandria Township, New Jersey was named after James Alexander. Early life Alexander was born in Muthill in Perthshire, Scotland on May 27, 1691, to David Alexander ("of Muthil"). He was a distant relation of the Earl of Stirling and may have received his formal education at the High School of Stirling. He joined the navy, serving on HMS ''Arundell'' in 1712–13, where he learned navigation, mathematics, and astronomy. But in 1714–15, he joined the uprising in support of James Francis Edward Stuart, the Old Pretender, and fled to America in 1715 when it failed. Life in America In November 1715, he was appointed surveyor general of New Jersey. He personally made surveys, using ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
John Peter Zenger
John Peter Zenger (October 26, 1697 – July 28, 1746) was a German printer and journalist in New York City. Zenger printed ''The New York Weekly Journal''. He was accused of Defamation, libel in 1734 by William Cosby, the royal governor of Province of New York, New York, but the jury acquitted Zenger, who became a symbol for freedom of the press. In 1733, Zenger began printing ''The New York Weekly Journal'', which voiced opinions critical of the colonial governor, William Cosby. On November 17, 1734, on Cosby's orders, the sheriff arrested Zenger. After a grand jury refused to indict him, the Attorney General Richard Bradley charged him with libel in August 1735. Zenger's lawyers, Andrew Hamilton (lawyer), Andrew Hamilton and William Smith (judge, born 1697), William Smith, Sr., successfully argued that truth is a defense (legal), defense against charges of libel. Early life Peter Zenger was born in 1697 in the Palatinate (region), German Palatinate. Most of the details of hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lewis Morris
Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continental Congress from New York. Early life and family Morris was born on April 8, 1726, at his family's estate, Morrisania, presently part of Bronx County, in what was then the Province of New York. He was the third Lewis Morris in the Morris family. He was the son of Lewis Morris (1698–1762) and Katrintje "Catherine" Staats (1697–1731). After his mother died, his father married Sarah Gouverneur (1714–1786). He graduated from Yale College in 1746, and upon his father's death in 1762, he inherited the bulk of the estate. Morris' father had seven children, including his siblings, Staats Long Morris (1728–1800) and Richard Morris (1730–1810), and his half-siblings, Mary Lawrence, Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816), Isabella, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Frederick Philipse II
Frederick Philipse II ( – July 26, 1751) was a merchant, landowner, and politician in British America. He was the only son of Maria Sparkes, daughter of the Governor of Barbados, and Philip Philipse, eldest son of Frederick Philipse I, 1st Lord of Philipsburg Manor. Philip predeceased his father, and family lands passed on to younger son Adolphus Philipse. Upon his uncle's death Frederick II inherited his share of Philipse lands and commercial interests, thereafter becoming the elder Philipse male and 2nd Lord of Philipsburg Manor. He also inherited the Highland Patent (later called the "Philipse Patent"), a parcel of land on the east bank of the Hudson River spanning the northern Westchester County line clear to the Connecticut border. Frederick II represented Westchester in the New York Assembly from 1724 to 1751. Upon his death in 1751 his eldest son, Frederick III, became the 3rd and final Lord of Philipsburg Manor. Early life Philipse' was born at Spring Head, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
William Cosby
Brigadier-General William Cosby (1690 – 10 March 1736) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New York from 1732 to 1736. During his short tenure as governor, Cosby was portrayed as one of the most oppressive governors in the Thirteen Colonies. In 1735, Cosby accused publisher John Peter Zenger of sedition and libel for publishing unflattering reports about him. In spite of Cosby's efforts, Zenger was acquitted of all charges and the case helped to establish the concept of freedom of the press. Early life and military career William Cosby was born in Stradbally Hall, Queen's County, Ireland, in 1690. His father, Alexander Cosby of Stradbally, stemmed from an English family that emigrated to Ireland in 1590, by the first Alexander Cosby. His mother, Elizabeth L'Estrange, was from another family of the Protestant Ascendancy. In 1709, 19-year-old William Cosby travelled to Italy and earned money by gambling in card games. The ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
New Jersey Provincial Council
His Majesty's Council for the Province of New Jersey was the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature under colonial rule until it was replaced by the New Jersey Legislative Council under the New Jersey Constitution of 1776. History The Provincial Council was established in 1702 upon the surrender by the Proprietors of East Jersey and those of West Jersey of the right of government to Queen Anne. Anne's government united the two colonies as the Province of New Jersey, a royal colony, establishing a new system of government. The instructions from Queen Anne to Viscount Cornbury, the first royal governor of New Jersey, outlined a fusion of powers system, which allowed for an overlap of executive, legislative and judicial authority. It provided for a bicameral legislature consisting of a Council and General Assembly. On December 6, 1775, Governor William Franklin prorogued the New Jersey Legislature until January 3, 1776, but it never met again. On May 30, 1776, Franklin att ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
