16. Grandpa Changes the World
Aired: 7/22/1956
Far more than courtroom drama, this TRUE STORY about how Alexander Hamilton, attorney to William Penn and the only colonial admitted to the English Bar, came out of retirement to defend a printer accused of libelling the Governor by printing the truth in his newspaper about his corrupt activities. The principals established in this case, as so eloquently argued by Hamilton, had a profound influence on the drafting of the Bill of Rights several years latter. ""Gentlemen, with an impartial, uncorrupted verdict we assure ourselves, our posterity, the right, the liberty of speaking and writing the truth."" As author and host, John Nesbitt says at the conclusion of this drama, ""The great footnote to this story, of course, lies in the Bill of Rights. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Old Andrew Hamilton that day in court was not so much defending his client with law that was already in existence, but was actually creating law that would not be clearly written down for generations to