First Amendment
The fact that Americans are legally allowed to use freedom of speech is one thing that make the United States a popular country to try to live in. Freedom of speech means that an individual has the right to speak their mind socially, religiously and politically about any topic they choose. The right of freedom of speech is protected under the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights, a part of the United States Constitution.
• The right of freedom of speech is one of a American’s most basic human rights. Many other countries do not allow its residents to have the freedom of speech, and many have been jailed or even killed because of things they have said. However, the First Amendment is often misunderstood by individuals. Freedom of speech extends beyond an individual verbally saying something. Now, non-verbal, visual and symbolic expressions fall under the protection of the First Amendment. The first amendment doesn’t only protect freedom of speech. The first amendment also protects an individual’s religious freedom, their right to petition, freedom of the press, and the right to assembly. The right to assembly refers to the right to gather and protest peacefully in any public place.
• The actual wording of the first amendment is “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.” This first amendment was established to protect the basic liberties of American citizens.
• However, with the freedom of speech comes some rules. There are some exceptions to the things that can be said, both verbally and non-verbally, under the First Amendment. The law has decided that any speech that is obscene, incites violence, threatens national security or defames someone is not protected under the freedom of speech amendment. Somewhat controversial is the fact that what is considered to be hate speech is actually protected under the first amendment. For instance speaking out as a representative of the Ku Klux Klan is not illegal and is protected by the first amendment.
The first amendment is considered to be one of the most important amendments in the United States Constitution. Although there are other countries who have the right to freedom of speech, the United States are the country in which the first amendment is tried to be strictly protected by the government.
