Z for John Peter Zenger. John Peter Zenger committed a newspaper libel, stating brutal truths about government wrongdoing. William Cosby didn't like it at all, so he had him try it. The verdict was delivered quickly: not guilty. This affair became vital to the life of the American colonies by granting them the First Amendment: freedom of the press. It had a tremendous impact on the lives of citizens by allowing them to say whatever they wanted about the government in a newspaper or other form of public writing. John Peter Zenger is known today for granting us this freedom. “The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of freedom of the press; because it is an essential branch of freedom, therefore it is perhaps the best conservative of the whole. » B for The Boston Massacre. What started as a simple snowball fight turned into a huge, catastrophic dilemma. Some settlers began throwing snowballs at a group of Patriots. However, as more people joined in the harassment, objects like sticks, stones and bricks were thrown at them. The Patriots then fired on the group, killing some. The press exaggerated this and made it a "massacre" so that people would turn even more against the Patriots when in reality, they were only protecting themselves. Americans wanted freedom and freedom from the British. They believed in freedom more than any other country, and were also willing to fight for it. Americans viewed freedom as something that should be afforded to everyone. (By everyone, I mean white men.) For this reason, they fought in the Revolutionary War to win back their freedom... middle of paper ... all the resolutions which were all summarized in a single book. entitled A Summary View of the Law of British America. I think Thomas Jefferson was a great author and had many ideas that America ended up using as a tool to gain its independence. L is for Long Island. Long Island was used as a place to spy on British forces. It was made by George Washington in order to help the Patriots gain information about Britain and try to determine their next moves. The Battle of Long Island took place in New York and caused the Americans to suffer huge losses and eventually retreat. Britain did more than twice as much damage to America as it did to America. William Howe, the British general, led the Loyalists in this battle and caused the Patriots to flee New York and lose their spy fort. Despite their efforts, America lost this battle, but ultimately won the war..