First Amendment

Introduction

Do people ever wonder how this country came about or how it was established, or what people went through to get the country to where it is today? Most people think, “I can say what I want, all day long, if I want”. Nevertheless, those people are extremely wrong! People tend to go too far. It is assumed that everyone has freedom of speech, until that freedom is violated by someone else. This paper will address the freedom of speech as it is addressed in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Background

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (First Amendment, 2008). The original 45 words of the First Amendment have not changed. With this in mind, the First Amendment is a set of principles that tends to change meaning as the citizens of the United States challenge the implications, and as the courts interpret the definitions.

The English settlers who came to America brought English law with them. Inconsistencies arose between premise and practice, and between the law as written and the law as applied (First Amendment, 2008). Settlers had come to America to get away from the religious persecution and strict English laws. The United States Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787 (2008). Many of the Constitution’s founding fathers felt that the addition of specific freedoms was unnecessary. This exclusion was later revealed to be in error and the first ten amendments were created. The first ten amendments to the Constitution, known as The Bill of Rights, went into effect on December 15, 1791. Finally, the states had the individual power to protect its citizens from the power of the federal government (First Amendment, 2008).

Synopsis of the Evolution of First Amendment

The cases specifically documenting the evolution of the First Amendment are numerous. Many confront the issues of the right to read freely, freedom of expression in schools, minors’ First Amendment rights, free press, the right to dissent, the right to free association and the freedom of religion, right to privacy and anonymity, unprotected and protected speech, and new technologies, such as the Internet. As the United States grows and evolves as a government, so does its policies governing the people of its nation.

The first known challenge to the scope of freedom of speech was in 1798, during a time when the United seemed destined to enter into war with France (American Library Association, 2007). Congress passed the Sedition Act (Patterson, 2005, p/108). This Act made it a crime to print false or malicious newspaper stories regarding the president or other national officials (p/108).

The Congressional limitations on the First Amendment did not stop there. In 1863, limits were placed on “sympathies for the enemy” (Hiller, 2007, p/10). The 1917 Espionage Act further restricted what could be said about the government, and prohibited forms of dissent that could “harm the nation’s effort in World War I (Patterson, 2005, p/108). In 1919, the Supreme Court ruled on the first case that challenged the national government’s authority to restrict free expression. This landmark case, Schenck v. United States, created a precedence for the “clear-and-present-danger test” in use today (Patterson, 2005, p/108). This test suggests that political speech that does not create a clear and present danger to the nation’s security cannot be restricted. Throughout history, the First Amendment has held different meanings; this is why there have been over 15,000 cases between 1941 and 1981 (Hiller, 2007, p/11). With the growth of the United States, the definitive nature of the First Amendment will remain, but the interpretation by others will continue to challenge the court system.

Analysis

As times change and the way the country is governed changes. The First Amendment adapts itself to the changing times. For example, when antislavery debates were presented to the United States House of Representatives, a �gag rule’ was proposed. The �gag rule’ prohibited members from discussing, or even mentioning, the antislavery petitions (Landy & Milkis, 2004, P/123). President Andrew Jackson supported the idea but John Q. Adams spoke out and brought the issue to the public’s attention. He suggested that the �gag rule’ would violate people’s rights to free speech. As people spoke out against the �gag rule’, it was repealed in 1844.