The United States Constitution/ the First Amendment
There have been extensive debates about the intentions of the framers of the various articles and amendments of the United States constitution. Many have attempted to trace logic and significance in these articles and the problems which they sought to solve. This paper will canvas and comprehensively discuss the intention of the drafters with regard to the First Amendment. The paper will interrogate concerns that they sought to address and effectively resolve. In addition, it will discuss the progressive history that has characterized this significant piece of legislation in the United States history.
Different views and opinions have been expressed by constitutional commenters, scholars, courts of law and historian about the intention of the First Amendment. It is extremely vital, while analyzing the subject matter, that its’ analysis is made within the historical context. The First amendment denotes that congress should not make any legislation that would establish a state religion or any legislation that its effects will be to avert the exercise of free will. The amendment further stipulates that no laws should be made to censor the rights and freedoms to speech, peacefully assembly, press freedom and a right to seek redress of government when atrocities are illegally committed against a person. Therefore, this Amendment serves the crucial purpose of ensuring that Congress does not interfere with these critical rights and freedom that the American Constitution seeks to advance. The Amendment seeks to ensure eternal enjoyment of these rights by the American people after their ancestors fiercely fought for them.
One of the fundamental intentions was to ensure separation of the Church and the State. The need for religious freedom, which was extremely limited at that time, was a cardinal factor in drafting of this law. Most of the immigrant who had settled in America had witnessed or read about the millions of people who were killed in England and continental Europe at large during the rule of the Church and its sponsored kingdoms. The settlers of the Northern American continent were keen to avoid such a scenario replicating itself in their country. It is vital to note that several efforts were already in place by the Quakers in Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and west Jersey among other states to formalize and institutionalize religion with the state. This was received by overwhelming opposition from emerging groups of liberal individual who formed the majority of the people throughout continental America.
Moreover, the tyrannical and oppressive nature of religious governments was a significant scare to many people. The United States constitution was crafted after the end of the Revolutionary war and the attainment of independence of the United States in 1776. The framers of the constitution, therefore, had a desire to ensure that the rights that the people fought for were jealously guarded by the constitution against an oppressive government regime that sought to alter these fundamental gains that had been made so far. A candid understanding of the historical context of the time of the writing of the constitution enables one to have a clear understanding about its intentions. These freedoms and rights protected under the first amendment are necessary for the advancement of a free society. This is what people had aspired for and the framers sought to realize. The significance of these rights and freedoms being crafted as the First Amendment is obvious. They illustrate what the revolution sought to realize in a war that saw the defeat of King George III of England. His government had oppressed the people. He had ensured limited freedom of the press, right to assembly or associate with other peacefully, curtailed the essential right to seek redress from repressive government agencies and imposed religious doctrines on a people who sought to exercise their free will. Therefore, the First amendment contains most of the crucial rights and freedoms that a nation and a people require in a free society. These are extremely essential in order to ensure the respect of the rule of law, the development of a country’s economy and to guarantee prosperity of the nation at large.
Since its inception, the First Amendment has had a rich and progressive development. In the words of one of the drafters, Thomas Jefferson, it is vital to realize “Democracy cannot be both free and ignorant”. It was, therefore, his intention that the American people should be free to share information and engage each other. The Supreme Court of the United States has been a critical institution in the development of these rights. This court has argued, contrary to the views held by many scholars, that most of these rights as provided by the in First Amendment are limited to some extent. This is with regard to privacy and libel. It has also been argued that the government needs to step in sometimes during times of war to censor some of these fundamental rights for the sake of national security. Therefore, despite the presence of few dissenting Supreme Court judges, majority of those privileged to have served in the highest court of the land, have remained firm that all these rights and freedoms are not absolute.
One of the significant developments of changes was introduced by the Sedition Act of 1798. This was enacted by congress and ascended into law by President John Adams in order to legitimize censorships actions of the government, notably at war times. It was to be used to charge persons suspected of conspiring to plot or oust a legitimate federal government. However, the act was repelled in 1800 following extensive political discussions on the ramifications of the Act. In order to ensure that the objectives of the founding fathers enshrined in the First Amendment were realized, in the year 1865, congress enacted and adopted the Fourteenth amendment. This served to enforce the letter and spirit of the First Amendment. In a nutshell, the Fourteenth Amendment made the First Amendment a bidding obligation of all agencies of the federal government. It sought to clear the air and guarantee the respect of the rule of law and adherence to due process in enforcing or limiting these constitutional rights.
The Sedition Act of 1918 and the Espionage Act of 1917 were enacted and adopted to limit the enjoyment of First Amendment rights and freedoms. The prevailing argument at the time favored the interest of national security at the expense of unlimited personal freedoms and liberties. In contemporary America, the discourse has been centered on whether ‘obscene’ or pornography content is protected under the First Amendment.
Works Cited
Epps, Garrett. The First Amendment: freedom of the press : its constitutional history and the contemporary debate. New York: Prometheus Books, 2008.
Murray, Bruce T. Religious liberty in America: the First Amendment in historical and contemporary perspective. Univ of Massachusetts Press, 2008.
O'Brien, David M. Congress Shall Make No Law: The First Amendment, Unprotected Expression, and the U.S. Supreme Court. New York: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010.
Adamson, Barry. Freedom of Religion, The First Amendment, And the Supreme Court: How the Court Flunked History. New York: Pelican Publishing, 2008.
Nelson, Samuel P. Beyond the First Amendment: The Politics of Free Speech and Pluralism. Chicago: JHU Press, 207.
