[ 557 ] U.S. History GED ® TEST SOCIAL STUDIES FLASH REVIEW • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • In 1770, outside the State House in Boston, Massachusetts, British soldiers shot and killed five colonists in an event still known as the Boston Massacre. When the soldiers were brought to trial, their lawyer was the colonist patriot John Adams. Which of the following foundational principles was most likely the key reason Adams took on this case? a. defending the underdog b. individual rights c. right to bear arms d. rule of law In 1734, the governor of New York, William Cosby, had the printer Peter Zenger arrested and tried for libel for accusing Cosby of corruption in the newspaper the New York Weekly Journal. The governor ordered copies of the newspaper burned. At the trial, the judge, who owed his job to the governor, instructed the jury that they must determine only whether the criticism was printed. They were told that it did not matter if it was true or not. The jury disagreed and found Zenger not guilty. This case was a landmark in the development of a. governmental corruption. b. freedom of the press. c. book burning. d. separation of powers.