First Amendment Essay, Research Paper

Our Living Shield: The First Amendment

The authors of the Constitution of the United States created a magnificent list

of liberties which were, at the time ascribed, to most people belonging to the

United States. The main author, James Madison, transported the previous ideas of

f undamental liberties from the great libertarians around the world, such as

John Lilburne, John Locke, William Walwyn and John Milton. Madison and other

previous libertarians of his time were transposed into seventeen different

rights which were to be secured to all those in the United States. These

seventeen civil liberties were compressed into ten different groupings which

were designated as the “Bill of Rights.” In this document lay the First

Amendment which stated that the people of the Uni ted States had the “freedom of

speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and

to petition the Government…” The First Amendment was drafted by federalist

Madison mainly as a political tactic to abolish anti-federalist resistance to

the Constitution. After its passage in December of 1791, the First Amendment

remained more idealistic than realistic. The First Amendment remained a set of

ideals which were not to be carried out during its first century, then

progressed to more realistic terms during its latter half of utilization.

During the first century of the First Amendment, the First Amendment was paid a

glance by all when it came to actually carrying out the freedoms guaranteed by

this amendment. For example, in 1794, Pennsylvanian backcountry farmers

protested a whiskey tax. The protesters were not violent such as those of the

previous Shay’s Rebellion. George Washington sent in a militia to crush the

rebellion denying them of their First Amendment right to “peaceably assemble.”

Later, in 1836, anti sl avery newspaper editor James G. Birney had been warned

that his newspaper “The Philanthropist” was not desirable in the city of

Cincinatti. When Birney refused to cooperate, mob action took rule and,

“scattered the type into the streets, tore down t he presses and completely

dismantled the office.” This contradicted the First Amendment which stated that,

“freedom…of the press,” is a constitutional right. The Supreme Court could do

nothing about these situations when in Barron v. Baltimore, t he Court ruled

that, “These amendments contain no expression indicating an intention to apply

them to state governments. This court cannot so apply them.” Thus, the Supreme

Court could not interfere when First Amendments are being violated within a

state. These acts were representative of the lack of recognition for our First

Amendment rights during the first half of the Bill of Right’s acceptance.

The second half of the Bill of Rights was marked by a rebirth in which the Bill

of Rights was no longer a set of ideals. The second half began when in 1925, the

court ruled in Gitlow v. New York that the First Amendment supersedes state laws

. This nullified the Court’s ruling in Barron v. Baltimore, which took place 92

years earlier. Also, in 1931, the Court overturned Minnesota’s conviction of Jay

M. Near, whose anti Semitic “Saturday Press” violated Minnesota law which

prohibited ” malicious, scandalous and defamatory” remarks towards politicians

and other public officials. The Court stamped Minnesota’s law in violation of

the First amendment. In 1937, Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes overturned the

conviction of Oregon Com munist Dirk De Jonge. De Jonge had been detained for

attending a meeting to protest the police shooting of striking longshoremen. The

Court ruled that “Peaceable assembly for lawful discussion cannot be made a

crime.” More recently, in 1985, the S upreme Court ruled that burning the

American flag is protected by the First Amendment when the Court reversed the

conviction of Gregory Lee Johnson, who was arrested for violation of the Flag

Protection Act of 1989. The Court then ruled the Flag Protection Act of 1989

unconstitutional. These instances clearly portray the rebounding of libertarian

beliefs.

The First Amendment of the Constitution started off as a set of beliefs meant to

supply reason for one being patriotic rather than supply those inalienable

rights discussed in the Declaration of Independence. It then developed into a

powerfu l document which is the only living manuscript which specificly lists

out the peoples rights. One cannot look back without looking ahead. The supreme

court currently is overwhelmingly conservative. Without the balance of

conservatism and liberalism, a deficiency evolves. And this deficiency is human

rights. The Supreme Court ruled in 1990 that two American Indians were not

protected by the First Amendment when they religiously smoked peyote. This is

only a sample of the conservatism which wi ll eventually plague America. The

Court’s decisions are close to eternal and decisions made now will affect

America’s future. And whether or not we should put America’s future in one

group’s hands is out of the question. The court is currently dan gerously

conservative.