The First Amendment

What it does and does not say and/or mean

Photo Credit: georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu

Issue #84 Government July 14, 2022 (about 4 minutes reading time)

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 to the Constitution of the United States is part of the Bill of Rights, which includes the first ten amendments passed in 1791 during the first term of President George Washington and after the official ratification of the Constitution in 1787.

The antifederalists, who were led by then-governor of Virginia Patrick Henry, opposed the ratification of the Constitution because they felt that it gave too much power to the federal government and lacked protection for people’s individual rights (meaning the rights of landowning white men only, of course).

Pro-constitution politicians called Federalists proposed a concession to the antifederalists, which led to the development of the Bill of Rights, which was ratified in 1791. These first ten amendments were written primarily by James Madison, who would later become the fourth president of the United States.

The First Amendment contains protections for five freedoms: speech, religion, press, assembly, and petitioning the government. This amendment is one of the most misunderstood of all of the eventual twenty-seven amendments.

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