The First Amendment
Amber Jochem
HIS2510 American Government
Professor Scott Wilson
November 20, 2016
The First Amendment
The United States Constitution was written as a set of laws to protect the citizens of the United States and to limit the power of the government. This “Supreme Law of the Land” is the oldest yet it is still being adhered to today. The First Amendment is one of the most controversial of the U.S. Constitution. It is meant to protect our liberty to choose our religious beliefs, the freedom of speech, and the right to petition the government. This paper will explain in detail this Amendment and how we are protected as citizens of the United States under the constitution.
The U.S. Constitution was written by James Madison and was meant do three things. First establish a framework of the government, second to distribute government powers, and lastly to guarantee our individual rights. His desire was to have a strong, unified government. As a Congressman he added The Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was the contract while the First Amendment was his vision of a government that advocated for its people. Later he became known as “Father of the Constitution”.
The U.S Constitution was signed September 17, 1787 however; it did not contain the freedoms found today in the Bill of Rights. Through debate the Bill of Rights was finally adopted and guaranteed our first freedoms.
“The Bill of Rights – The first 10 amendments to the Constitution went into effect Dec. 15, 1791, when the state of Virginia ratified it, giving the bill the majority of ratifying states required to protect citizens from the power of the federal government” (firstamendmentcenter.org, n.d.).
Freedom is definitely a cherished liberty; one that has defined the American culture since the beginning of time. According to Kearney (2015) “freedom was conceived of in a dualistic sense; that is; freedom was popularly understood to contain two important elements. Having individual freedom to do as you please and still being accountable to the community at whole. This concept is not a unique one to American history.
What exactly did early American freedom look like? To better understand freedom we must have an understanding of the nature of liberty. During the 17th century the idea of nature freedom was “man. . . hath liberty to do what he lists.” Here we see that the idea is being responsible for the common good of man. According to the words of Tocqueville’s “It was never assumed in the United States that the citizen of a free country has a right to do whatever he pleases, on the contrary, more social obligations were there imposed upon him than anywhere else”. In accordance to these words, it is the due diligence of the individual to adhere the principles that are contained in the notion of “civil liberty”.
Civil Liberties and Civil Rights [ushistory.org] (n.d.) is explained like this: both words are found in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. There is no clear explanation because defining the two has been blurred. And even today they are used interchangeably. Civil liberties protect citizens against government actions while civil rights refer to the government acting as the enforcer to create suitable conditions for all Americans.
Jefferson was convinced that liberty was able to thrive only in a society with certain kinds of citizens. He also noted that “the liberties of the nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?” Does this mean that America was founded on Christian principles? No, not necessarily.
The idea of America being founded on Christian principles came from the 19th century. America was searching to establish an identity that was sanctifying the origins of the nation. According to Edwards (2015) if we are talking about the British Empire and the 13 colonies that belonged to it, then yes. However, the America subjects separated itself from the British monarchy. The king presided over the imperial church as its citizens that lived under the Christian rule. These colonies were founded as a Christian nation.
Thomas Paine an England born political philosopher and writer was very outspoken about his religious beliefs. Paine’s vision for America was that of a “democratic god of nature and reason.” However, America has ever since tried to resemble “a nation of Christians”.
The First Amendment was listed first in the constitution