The First Amendment is one of the ten amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. It is a part of our country’s foundation. It is arguably our most important amendment in the Constitution of the United States of America because it guarantees us our most basic freedoms. It establishes the values our nation is built on. The First Amendment is very rich in history, has an important purpose, and is extremely significant to the values and operation of our country.
The First Amendment was added in 1791 as one of the ten amendments that make up the
Bill of Rights. It was added after the Anti-Federalists (people who opposed the ratification of the
Constitution) argued that the Constitution didn’t protect people’s basic rights. Congress then
promised the Anti-Federalists that once the Constitution was ratified, they would add a Bill of
Rights to protect the people’s basic freedoms. Congress wrote the First Amendment to protect our freedoms of speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition.
When writing the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment changed as it was written. For example, freedom of the press wasn’t always going to be included in the First Amendment. It wasn’t until journalist John Peter Zenger’s arrest that freedom of press was to be included. In his newspaper, Zenger criticized the governor of New York. When he was arrested, he argued that a free press is necessary to keep a government from misusing its power. After hearing of this, Congress decided to include freedom of press in the First Amendment. Since then, freedom of press has become an important part of the First Amendment. Since it was ratified in 1791, the First Amendment has protected these five freedoms.
Today, people still debate over what is protected under the First Amendment. The First
Amendment covers speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition; but it is not made clear what is covered under these five freedoms. What is made clear though, is that the First Amendment
doesn’t allow everything. For example, hate speech is not covered by the First Amendment. The
First Amendment also doesn’t allow the press to spread lies about someone. This is considered a
crime called libel. In addition, violent gatherings, such as riots, are not covered by freedom of
assembly. Peaceful protests, however, are covered. Freedom of religion may let you practice
your religion in whatever way you want, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody or disturb the peace.
In summary, the First Amendment covers the five basic freedoms as long as they are used for
peaceful purposes.
Many court cases have been held about the First Amendment. In 1919, in a court case known as Schenck v. United States, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes stated his famous saying about “falsely shouting ‘fire’ in a theater” and whether or not that would be considered illegal (qtd. by American Library Association). The case ended up testing whether speech that could hurt someone or cause problems was protected under freedom of speech. In the end, it was determined that this was not protected under the First Amendment. In addition, 1969 case Brandenburg v. Ohio determined that speech that could lead to criminal activity wasn’t protected under the First Amendment either. Another case, Loewen v. Turnipseed in 1980, dealt with freedom of speech and freedom of press. In this case, the Mississippi Textbook Purchasing Board refused to approve Mississippi: Conflict and Change for use in public schools due to it dealing with racial matters and being controversial. It was ruled that the authors of the book had been denied freedom of speech and freedom of press. All of these court cases have dealt with our First Amendment rights.
To summarize, the First Amendment was added in 1791 because the Anti-Federalists wanted a Bill of Rights to be added to the Constitution to protect the people’s rights. The First Amendment protects people’s freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of assembly, and the freedom to petition the government. However, things such as hate speech or libel are not protected among the five First Amendment freedoms. The First Amendment also changed as it was written. For example, freedom of press wasn’t going to be included until the arrest of journalist John Peter Zenger. In addition, the First Amendment has been used and tested in multiple court cases that have changed how it affects the United States today. In conclusion, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America has a rich history and will continue to be an important part of our nation’s laws.