The First Amendment

A detailed Summary of The First Amendment


In 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a set of rules known as the Articles of Confederation. From these meager beginnings sprang thirteen states and a promise of a representational government. Twelve years later congress ratified ten amendments which provided civil liberties to all Citizens, these first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. Over the years I have come to associate many of these rights to the First Amendment. The First Amendment guarantees our rights to religion, speech, press and assembly. By exploring these freedoms, I will demonstrate how this amendment is the most important to me.

The First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom was influenced by the colonial practice of relative religious freedom. Pilgrims and Puritan dissenters from England seeking religious freedom formed many of the early colonies. Religious leaders such as John Winthrop, Roger Williams, and eventually William Penn arrived in the New World to promote their idea of religious beliefs based in Scripture and not political agenda. Today, we honor and respect this basic right. With the events of September 11, 2001 still exploding in our hearts and our memori


Freedom of Speech has been a subject of discussions for years and probably for years to come. True freedom of speech did not exist until 1925 when the United States Supreme Court ruled in Gitlow v. People of New York that freedom of speech must be included in the Fourteenth Amendment. This decision reversed an earlier indictment by the New York Supreme Court. Prior to 1925, many states had separate laws dealing with written and spoken freedoms. With this freedom comes rules and responsibilities. Obscene speech, libel, slander and speech that incites imminent lawless action that is likely to succeed are all prohibited. However, these rules are discretionary and are quite often challenged in court. Many of these rulings are what anger most about freedom of speech. I am angered that the Gregory Johnson's of the world can burn the American Flag and that many of today's rap stars sing of killing our police men and women. But, I believe freedom of expression is what truly sets us apart from other countries. Freedom of expression promotes thinking, it promotes exploration and it promotes sharing of information that some day will lead to new technology, unexplored worlds and cures for many forms of disease.

A powerful theme stands out in this paper. A document prod

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Approximate Word count = 860
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Politics

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