Hey I’m Mr. Willis, and let’s highlight the first amendment.
The First Amendment to the Constitution protects the essential rights of the American people
to express their beliefs without being punished by the government.
The First Amendment expressly protects the freedom of and from religion, the freedom
of speech, the freedom of the press, and the freedom to peacefully assemble and petition
the government.
The first part of the amendment is focused on the establishment and free exercise clause.
Written by James Madison, this clause grants Americans the freedom to practice any religion
they choose in any way they see fit, but also prohibits the government from declaring a
national religion.
The Founders wanted to steer the United States away from the system of religion that existed
in England, where the Church of England, also known as the Anglican church, is the national
religion and the monarch is the head of the church.
Over the centuries, the Crown had used the church to prosecute members of other religions
leading to bloodshed and civil division.
In order to avoid this situation, Madison added this clause that creates the whole idea
of separation of church and state, which means our government should stay out of religion
and religion should stay out of government . The first amendment makes it legal to believe
in this, and this, and even this, without the fear of persecution by the government,
but also prevent this (V for Vendetta) from happening in the United States.
The First Amendment also protects the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press.
The freedom of speech is an essential American freedom because it allows for what we call
open dissent.
It is what allows us to say what we want and to criticize who we want without getting in
trouble with the government.
This doesn’t mean that we can walk around accusing people of crimes that they didn’t
commit and post indecent pictures of people we don’t like, but we are allowed to form
our own opinions and disagree with our leaders without retribution or punishment.
Freedom of speech also includes the freedom of expression, meaning you are able to express
yourself in any way you want like by making signs or wearing symbolic armbands supporting
your cause.
It is important to note that the First Amendment protects your right to say whatever you want,
but this doesn’t keep you free from accountability from the public, your school or your employer.
There are many famous incidents of people getting fired for expressing their opinions
when they differ from their employer, as well as cases of citizens being sued in court for
falsely slandering another citizen.
Freedom of the press goes hand and hand with the freedom of speech and essentially allows
the media to report on events and write openly about government and our elected officials
without being silenced.
The First Amendment also guarantees the freedom to assemble and petition the government.
We have seen people petition the government throughout the history of the country, from
suffragists, to abolitionists, to civil rights activists.
Now there is even a website called change.org where you can petition anything, including
a petition to sell Montana to Canada for 1 trillion dollars.
The concept of this freedom is to allow people to demand a change in the government when
they believe that the government is not representing their needs and their best interests, without
the fear of retaliation.
The First Amendment is so vital in protecting the rights of the American people to challenge
their government.
The Founding Fathers knew the importance of the Social Contract and the fact that the
people needed to hold their government accountable.
With the first amendment, the citizenry has several protected ways to express their concerns
and demand that government address those concerns.
Thank you so much for watching.
That’s the First Amendment, and this has been your History Highlight.