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 to assemble peacefully, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The first and the most significant of the amendments to our Constitution is the First Amendment. "The amendment that established our freedoms as citizens of our new confederation." The First Amendment insures freedom of speech and of the press. The First Amendment ratification was completed on December 15, 1791. This happened when the eleventh State, which is Virginia, approved this amendment. At that time there were fourteen States in the Union. There are many examples that show use of The First Amendment and there are also many examples that show breaking of it. One of the major organizations that exercise free speech is the press. The press has come up with the phrase, "It is the people's First Amendment right to know." One example is 9/11. The press had the right to release information to the public, but they had to use judgment in what they released. Certain news that they might release could put people in danger, therefore taking away the right of all people to be safe. Freedom is what our country is based on and we must make an effort to censor certain critical information. We must also edit the freedom of speech when it takes away from other rights that each citizen is guaranteed, like the right to privacy, or to a fair judicial process. There must also be laws that prevent false information from being released, intentionally or unintentionally. It is easy to take advantage of a person, by offering a new product that promises to do what no other... ... middle of paper ... ...d create a loop hole and cause problems, so the ratification process must be precise. Bibliography FIRST AMENDMENT ASNE First Amendment Resources http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=4 Copley First Amendment Center http://www.illinoisfirstamendmentcenter.com/ First Amendment Center http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/ First Amendment Foundation (Florida) http://www.floridafaf.org/ FREEDOM OF INFORMATION (FOI) The Brechner Center for Freedom of Information http://brechner.org/ Coalition of Journalists for Open Government http://www.cjog.net/ Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.eff.org/ FBI's FOIA Website http://foia.fbi.gov/ Florida Government-in-the-Sunshine Law (Attorney General's Office) http://myfloridalegal.com/sunshine BOOKS Barron, Jerome A. First Amendment Law in a Nutshell. St. Paul, MN: Thomson/West, 2004.
The origins of the first Amendment date back to when the Constitution and Bill of rights were first being debated and written down. Thomas Jefferson once said, “A democracy cannot be both ignorant and free.” The American settlers desired freedom and a sense of sincerity, or openness. The harsh oppression the British placed on the settlers left lasting a lasting impression on the settlers’ minds. They used their familiarity and experiences with the oppression to form the ideals of the Constitution and the Amendments. According civilliberty.about.com, the father of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, was somewhat captivated with the concepts of freedom of...
The first Amendment of the United States Constitution says; “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.”[1] Our fore fathers felt that this statement was plain enough for all to understand, however quite often the United States government deems it necessary to make laws to better define those rights that are stated in the Constitution. Today the framers would be both encouraged and discouraged by our modern interpretation the First Amendment the United States Constitution.
One key to the first amendment of the United states constitution is the right to free speech. Freedom of speech is what separates America than other countries around the world that forbid freedom of speech rights. Freedom of speech has been in our constitution since the year 1791. When James Madison “the father of the constitution” wrote the bill of rights he saw potential and that it would make the country more freedom filled than other countries. The land of the free is what the United States is nicknamed and it 's because of our rights to express ourselves as freely as we desire.
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 redress of grievances.
The first ten amendments make up the bill of rights. The first amendment 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. Some forms of speech are not covered by the first amendment such as fighting words and threats.
For more than 200 years, the First Amendment has been at the heart of United States’ history and most successful research in liberty. The history of America’s nation is the story of the constant struggle to extend the promise of freedom more fully and fairly to each and every citizen. By looking freedom of speech, democratic government is not that important to have it without these rights. People prefer democracy to avoid tyranny or suppression of others. The citizens of the United States need to protect these rights because they are fundamental to the human being to be free, have liberty. What Founding Fathers did is not enough, however, United States’ citizens has to work together for a better place, a better country, a better government.
On December 15th, 1971, the first X amendments to the Constitution went into affect. The first X amendments to the constitution were known as the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment was written by James Madison because the American people were demanding a guarantee of their freedom. The First Amendment was put into place to protect American’s freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly and freedom of petition. The First Amendment was written as follows;
Since this country was founded, we have had a set of unalienable rights that our constitution guarantees us to as Americans. One of the most important rights that is mentioned in our constitution is the right to free speech. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the
The First Amendment is the first section of the Bill of Rights and is often considered the most important part of the U.S Constitution because it guarantees the citizens of United States the essential personal freedoms of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and the freedom to petition the Government. Thanks to the rights granted by the First Amendment, Americans are able to live in a country where they can freely express themselves, speak their mind, pray without interference, protest in peace and where their opinions are taken into consideration, which is something not many other nationalities have the fortune of saying. The Founding Fathers were the framers of the Constitution of the U.S., and the responsible for the elaboration of the First Amendment. The majority of the Founding Fathers were enlightenment thinkers who were in love with liberty, and thought that basic political rights were inevitable for man’s nature. After having experienced the tyranny from their mother countries, the Founding Fathers carefully constructed the Constitution of the United States in a way where tyranny was avoided and a government for the people, by the people and of the people was developed, which is clearly reflected in the Constitution. At the time of inception of the United States, the Founding Fathers created the First Amendment in order to ensure that the government would not interfere with Americans’ basic civil rights. The rights outlined on the First Amendment were considered so important by these leaders that many states refused to ratify the Constitution of the United Sates until there was a conjecture of amendments that would protect individual rights in the future.
The First Amendment is what we chose because it covers good areas (topics) that are occurring in the world on a daily basis. Many people like the items that The First Amendment covers, and some people don't like them. Either way there are many other amendments that have been ratified by the two-thirds of the House and Senate. There are ten amendments in the constitution, but there are 17 other amendments that aren't in the constitution. Therefore, in total there are 27 amendments.
ratified. However, within one year and eight days, thirty six states - the three quarters
The Bill of Rights includes several amendments describing the rights that people have as well as the things that are prohibited in our nation. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights states that “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 the redress of grievances.” This Amendment lists the five freedoms that all of the United States citizens have been given. (U.S. Const. amend. I)
America has been built on freedom throughout the years. Freedom to speak, freedom to choose, freedom to worship, and freedom to do just about anything you want within that of the law. America’s law has been designed to protect and preserve these freedoms. The First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. It assures citizens that the federal government shall not restrict freedom of worship. It specifically prohibits Congress from establishing an official, government supported church. Under The First Amendment, the federal government cannot require citizens to pay taxes to support a certain church, nor can people be prohibited from worshipping in any way they see fit. However, if a certain religion recommends a practice that is contrary to public morals, such as polygamy, Congress may prohibit such a practice (Weidner, Daniel, 2002). The people of the United States also have the right to assemble peaceably under the First Amendment. The only restriction comes from the word peaceably. Assembly may not be prevented, as long as the proper authorities have reasonable assurance that the meeting will be peaceful (Weidner, Daniel, 2002).
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.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or the press, or the right of peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for the redress of grievances” (United States Constitution).