Law as a Colonial Shell Game

Second Sinking of USS Maine After Having Been Raised and Towed Out of Havana Harbor in 1912. Original Sinking Feb. 15, 1898, Cost 260 Lives and Touched Off the Spanish-American War on the Claim it was Done by a Spanish Mine. Public Domain Photo by U.S. Navy. Subsequent Investigation Offered Evidence of Accident.

These United States have been both colonized and colonizer, so the law has to stretch a bit.

If you don’t know the name John Peter Zenger, your undergraduate education about the fundamental liberties American citizens expect is lacking and you should perhaps pick up a few biographies to read while working your way through the Federalist and…