Amendment I
“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.” The first amendment states that every American citizen has freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and protest. Along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, the amendment was submitted to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789, later becoming part of the constitution on December 15, 1791 in Virginia. Written by James Madison, the Bill of Rights was written because the states demanded greater protection for individual liberties, and the first amendment was created to protect citizens’ basic freedoms. Without the first amendment, religious minorities could be persecuted, the government might as well establish a national religion, protesters could be silenced, the press could not criticize government, and citizens could not mobilize for social change. This amendment is very important in my opinion, and the history of it is very interesting to me. The first amendment was created after the American Revolution for the colonists to have protection of their unalienable rights, because of their struggles with the British government. And finally, American colonization experiences before also have influences of creating this amendment. The citizens before in the American Revolution felt like they didn’t have a voice in parliament. Their freedom of speech and religion were not protected and with the Proclamation of 1763, colonists thought the British government did not care about their needs (which were clear, Britain couldn’t care less). The Proclamation also didn’t let the citizens extend territory in their own country, so of course the citizens felt threatened by that, because they didn’t feel free in the colonists. They couldn’t protest the government; the government would not listen to peaceful protesters. The colonist were angry that the British parliament ignored many of their protests or petitions and tried to stifle opposition to their rule. The colonists petitioned for change in regards to taxes and …show more content…
The factors from American colonization that led to the first amendment are conquering and violence. Starting from the beginning, the indigenous people that were here before suffered because of just who they were. Killed, enslaved, their land taken away and forced to a new culture by Europeans are just a few things they went through in their own land. Their human rights were violated because they were controlled by European government and they were obviously ignored by whatever government was taken over. Their conquering was similar to what was happening before the revolution. As the colonies started growing, the Americans were still being controlled by Europe, feeling like they had no power. So the other factor they utilized was the violence. Even if Europe did not listen to them, the colonies fought and protested to get some rights and many battles were fought. Many different battles/wars were taken place to gain freedom from some kind of power and colonists saw that violence was the only choice for the Europeans to notice their problems. These factors are what I think shaped the first amendment, from the European explorations and their conquest to all the battles/wars for protesters to show they need a social
“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.” The first amendment states that every American citizen has freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and protest. Along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, the amendment was submitted to the states for ratification on September 25, 1789, later becoming part of the constitution on December 15, 1791 in Virginia. Written by James Madison, the Bill of Rights was written because the states demanded greater protection for individual liberties, and the first amendment was created to protect citizens’ basic freedoms. Without the first amendment, religious minorities could be persecuted, the government might as well establish a national religion, protesters could be silenced, the press could not criticize government, and citizens could not mobilize for social change. This amendment is very important in my opinion, and the history of it is very interesting to me. The first amendment was created after the American Revolution for the colonists to have protection of their unalienable rights, because of their struggles with the British government. And finally, American colonization experiences before also have influences of creating this amendment. The citizens before in the American Revolution felt like they didn’t have a voice in parliament. Their freedom of speech and religion were not protected and with the Proclamation of 1763, colonists thought the British government did not care about their needs (which were clear, Britain couldn’t care less). The Proclamation also didn’t let the citizens extend territory in their own country, so of course the citizens felt threatened by that, because they didn’t feel free in the colonists. They couldn’t protest the government; the government would not listen to peaceful protesters. The colonist were angry that the British parliament ignored many of their protests or petitions and tried to stifle opposition to their rule. The colonists petitioned for change in regards to taxes and …show more content…
The factors from American colonization that led to the first amendment are conquering and violence. Starting from the beginning, the indigenous people that were here before suffered because of just who they were. Killed, enslaved, their land taken away and forced to a new culture by Europeans are just a few things they went through in their own land. Their human rights were violated because they were controlled by European government and they were obviously ignored by whatever government was taken over. Their conquering was similar to what was happening before the revolution. As the colonies started growing, the Americans were still being controlled by Europe, feeling like they had no power. So the other factor they utilized was the violence. Even if Europe did not listen to them, the colonies fought and protested to get some rights and many battles were fought. Many different battles/wars were taken place to gain freedom from some kind of power and colonists saw that violence was the only choice for the Europeans to notice their problems. These factors are what I think shaped the first amendment, from the European explorations and their conquest to all the battles/wars for protesters to show they need a social