Harry Bedlow went bankrupt due to one of these events despite Alexander Hamilton’s purported efforts to forge a letter by seamstress Lanah Sawyer. After Philadelphia’s yellow fever epidemic, Benjamin Rush and William Cobbett’s involvement in one of these events galvanized opposition to bloodletting as a practice. The first example of these events in Colonial America stemmed from the actions of a “stranger” named John (*) Billington. Governor William Cosby issued a formal “information” procedure to avoid one of these events that would have benefited Lewis Morris and his satirical New York Weekly Journal. Success in that one of these events cemented John Peter Zenger as a symbol of freedom of the press. For 10 points, Increase Mather opposed using “spectral evidence” to prove devilish possession over women during what sort of events in Salem? ■END■
ANSWER: jury trials [accept libel trials, civil trials, murder trials, or seduction trials; accept court cases or court rulings; accept Salem Witch trials; prompt on execution by asking “following what type of event?”; prompt on sexual assault, rape by asking “what type of event followed that?”]
<RR, American History>
= Average correct buzz position