The Amendments
Miles Polley
Amendment I
Constitution Text
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.
General Summary
Amendment I protects the people of the United States with freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion. In addition, it also protects the people from grievances.
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of speech is a broad statement. You might think that whatever you say is fair and cannot hurt. False. You can't say things against a president or a choice the country made. That is called protest. Protest is a form of speech or actions that are illegal in some places. If you protest you basically go against a choice made by the people. This is what the Founding Fathers didn't want. People who don't like the decisions made.
The Founding Fathers put this in the Constitution because the king of England wouldn't let the British speak against him, so the fathers decided to give the people freedom to speak how they wish.
This topic has come up in the mid 1900's when the blacks and whites were not treated equally. The whites were given more freedom and rights so they could speak freely. However the blacks were the lower class so they got in more trouble for the thing they said.
Facts of Congress - The First Amendment
Freedom of Religion
Freedom of Religion lets people study and express the religion they live in any way they want. For example Christian people put up Christmas lights to celebrate Christmas. The United States also builds religious buildings for people to go and pray. If we didn't have freedom of religion people would feel left out. In fact, people might even rebel or attack the government. Because of this the people of the United States are allowed to express heir form of religion in any way.
When the Constitution was first being written most of the population was Christian. Because of this many churches were built so people could go pray. However since the population of Jews and Muslims have grown in the United States many temples and mosques have been constructed to treat people fairly and let them pray to who they want to.
Freedom of Press
To me freedom of press means that if people don't want a paparazzi to follow them they shouldn't. But we all know that can never happen. There is always that one group that can never get enough.
This idea came up when the writers of the Declaration wrote in private. They did not want the word to get out to England that they were going to declare independence. Because of this the people who wrote the Constitution decided to hold private meetings so that only the delegates of states could have information about how the Constitution was coming along.
Freedom of the press comes up even today. We always hear of cameras flashing for movie stars or news reporters covering the latest story. The most tragic though was when Queen Diana died in a terrible car crash because the press was racing down the street in their car chasing the queen. With this incident happening I feel like the press should not be allowed to follow people but only to be allowed out major events.
Freedom of Assemble
Freedom of assembly is to gather a group of people, friends, or co-workers to protest, petition, or speak about a topic. The topic could be anything that has come up. Such as sports, movies, decisions, and much more.
In history, people use to assemble all the time. One major assembly was in front of the church in Boston, Massachusetts. At this church something huge was about to happen. It all started when a group of people started throwing snowballs at the British soldiers. This angered the soldiers so they took out their guns and shot the group of people. This even is also know as the Boston Massacre.
This is why there are limits on the freedom to assemble. You must get a permit from the city that allows you to stand on a street corner or park to speak your thoughts. In addition, if you didn't have a permit then it would be a bunch of random people. Some of these people might bring guns. Also, you can block streets or cause accidents when you are assembling.
I feel like having the right to assemble is a waste because it is rarely used and most people will just ignore the people in the assembly.
Right to Petition
The right to petition gives the people of the United States the freedom to stand on street corners, parks, or other recreational places to prove a point or campaign for a candidate.
The colored and even some white people in the early 1800's started to petition because of slaves. These people thought that all people should be treated equally. They ended up winning the petition and President Lincoln signed a bill abolishing, ending, slavery.
Citizens of the U.S were not happy with the law. They rebelled and continued to treat coloreds unequally. This gave Martin Luther King Jr. an idea. His idea was to petition. He gathered a humongous crowd to meet up at the Lincoln Memorial. He picked this spot because President Lincoln signed the bill to end slavery. He made his famous "I have a dream" speech, but shortly after he was murdered by a civilian who did not like his views.
The right to petition has helped but hurt the country in many ways. One way was Lincoln signing the bill to abolish slavery, but that took his life. In addition, Martin Luther King Jr. had a petition to treat colored people equally, but that took his life also. It is good because these petitions stopped people from treating colored people unequally, but it is sad because it took two very good men away from their lives and their country.
Amendment II
Constitution Text
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
General Summary
Any citizen of the United States has the right to bear arms, or be able to own an armed gun to protect them from enemies. It allows people to own any type of gun whether it be assault rifles, sub machine guns, snipers, pistols, or more. It also allows the military to own any type of weapon such as grenades, any type of gun, missiles, and much more. This right was given because one of the Founding Fathers knew that at one point in time the United States will need weapons to protect themselves.
When the Constitution was being written they did not want a tyrant to take over and control the country like the king did in England. Because of this people were given the right to bare arms for protection.
On December 14, 2012 a school shooting occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. 26 innocent lives were lost for no reason. This has brought up the talked about subject of what type of guns should be allowed to own.
I think that people should be allowed to own a pistol that does the least amount of damage and only the military can own assault rifles, snipers, sub machine guns, and more. I think this because they go into war so they need more high powered weapons. Average people should not be allowed to own those guns because they can go out and kill innocent people like the shooting in Aurora, Colorado and Newton, Connecticut.
President Obama Delivers Gun Control Statement