Why Is The First Amendment Important

There is a saying out there that goes something along the lines of, “when governments fear the people, there is liberty. And when the people fear the government, there is tyranny”. That is exactly why our Constitution was created back in 1787, and is still enforced to this very day. Inside the texts of the Constitution, lies fundamental principles that govern this nation, and protect the people from an overpowered government, such as the Amendments. There are twenty-one amendments, the first ten being adopted and ratified, into what we know as the Bill of Rights. From these amendments, the very first one in my opinion, is one of the most significant. The first amendment is prevalent in modern day society because individually, we have the ability
In the article, “The First Amendment: History & Development” by St. Rosemary Institution, I read that James Madison, the fourth president of the U.S. and Founding Father of the Constitution, drafted the first amendment as a political tactic to abolish anti-federalist resistance to the Constitution. Anti-federalist were those that opposed the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the article read that “the First Amendment remained a set of ideals which were not to be carried out during its first century, and then progressed to more realistic terms during its latter half of utilization”. Basically, for about half of its initial existence, the first amendment was more idealistic, than realistic. Events such as the farmers protest on whiskey tax in 1794, and in 1836, the destruction of presses and offices of anti-slavery newspaper editor, James G. Birney, in between many other things caused a turning point in
New York, that the First Amendment supersedes state laws. The amendment was finally pushed to be respected and serve its purpose. As stated in the previous article, “The Supreme Court currently is overwhelmingly conservative. Without the balance of conservatism and liberalism, a deficiency evolves. And this deficiency is human rights”. We need to have a balance because without one, it flaws out the views of one side. We would be back to square one, we need diverse opinions in order to prevent injustices. That is the beauty of life, we are all entitled to flourish and defend what is right from wrong. The first amendment is a part of why the U.S. is a place of dreams for people of all