Argumentative Essay: The First Amendment

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.” These laws have been in place since 1791, but what happens when suddenly the United States government doesn’t find these constitutional rights important anymore? To find out, we simply need to look back to the second red scare in the United States, during the heat of the Cold War. In those years, fears of a Communist invasion swept over the American public and its political leaders. This led to significant blows to freedom of the press, freedom

McCarthy himself didn’t help the Americans’ trust in the press as he frequently got into disputes with numerous publications. One example is journalist Drew Pearson. In 1950, the reporter started writing a series of columns condemning McCarthy for the Wheeling address. Later that year, McCarthy attacked Pearson in the coatroom of a club. A few days later, McCarthy “exposed” Pearson as a Communist at a press conference. After that, “any newsroom who persisted in criticizing the senator could expect to be labeled a Communist dupe,” and McCarthy used intimidation to continue to take advantage of the press. But not all of the limitations put on the freedom of the press can be placed on McCarthy. In 1947, the Hutchins Commission’s final report stated that the freedom of the press was in danger. The report found that changes in the economic structure of the press, new forms of censorship and the growth of a mass democracy were hurting the First Amendment’s promised rights. After World War II ended, newspaper diversity was continuously declining, with more and more smaller newspapers having to shut down after newspapers couldn’t keep up with the booming population and