Hamilton, Andrew, 1676?–1741, colonial American lawyer, defender of John Peter Zenger, b. Scotland. He practiced law in Maryland and then Pennsylvania, where he became (1717) attorney general and held other offices. When the governing party in New York had disbarred all local lawyers who ventured to defend Zenger, Hamilton was brought in and by his brilliant defense secured Zenger's acquittal (1735), establishing truth as a defense against libel charges.
See biography by A. B. Konkle (1941).
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