The Rising Tension
Rip Van Dam served as a temporary Governor of New York while William Cosby was getting ready to govern. Van Dam and Cosby argued over the salaries they should receive and could not find a solution. They came before the court in 1733 with the case of Cosby v. Van Dam. Cosby created a bill of equity that did two things. First, it avoided a common jury because Cosby was afraid they would rule in favor of Van Dam. Second, the judges of the case would be Frederick Philipse and James Delancy, men that Cosby believed would vote in favor of him. William Smith and James Alexander represented Van Dam, arguing that the Supreme Court of Judicature should not be able to use the bill of equity that Cosby created. However, Cosby won anyway.
Chief Justice Lewis Morris was unhappy about this, and said that governors could not create courts and set limits on their jurisdiction, only the legislature could. Cosby asked for Morris's written opinion, although all Cosby wanted to hear was his own. Morris, angered and fed up, wrote and published a letter saying that "If judges are too intimidated so as not to dare to give any opinion, but what is pleasing to the governor, and agreeable to his private views, the people of this province… may not possibly think themselves so secure in either of them as the laws of is Majesty intended they should be." Because of this statement, Cosby had Morris removed from office. This angered many of the people of New York.
The New York Gazette, the only newspaper in New York at the time, supported Cosby. Morris, Smith, and Alexander founded the New York Weekly Journal. Alexander became the editor, and Zenger, the printer. The paper accused Cosby of violating people's rights.
Chief Justice Lewis Morris was unhappy about this, and said that governors could not create courts and set limits on their jurisdiction, only the legislature could. Cosby asked for Morris's written opinion, although all Cosby wanted to hear was his own. Morris, angered and fed up, wrote and published a letter saying that "If judges are too intimidated so as not to dare to give any opinion, but what is pleasing to the governor, and agreeable to his private views, the people of this province… may not possibly think themselves so secure in either of them as the laws of is Majesty intended they should be." Because of this statement, Cosby had Morris removed from office. This angered many of the people of New York.
The New York Gazette, the only newspaper in New York at the time, supported Cosby. Morris, Smith, and Alexander founded the New York Weekly Journal. Alexander became the editor, and Zenger, the printer. The paper accused Cosby of violating people's rights.