Person:Andrew Hamilton (lawyer) (1)

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Andrew Hamilton
b.Abt 1676
d.4 Aug 1741
Facts and Events
Name Andrew Hamilton
Gender Male
Birth[1] Abt 1676
Marriage to Ann Preeson (add)
Death[1] 4 Aug 1741
Reference Number? Q4757224?


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Andrew Hamilton (1676 – August 4, 1741) was a Scottish lawyer in the Thirteen Colonies, where he finally 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.

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Andrew Hamilton (lawyer). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
References
  1. 1.0 1.1 Andrew Hamilton (lawyer), in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.