Topics: Documents

• 1797 Treaty of Tripoli

  The 1797 Treaty of Tripoli has been used by some to counter arguments that the United States is a "Christian nation." The treaty, aimed to protect American...

• Academic Bill of Rights

  David Horowitz's Academic Bill of Rights attempts to establish principles of the First Amendment on college campuses that Horowitz says have been violated by...

• Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations

  The Attorney General's List of Subversive Organizations cataloged organizations engaged in supposed subversive activity. The list chilled First Amendment...

• Bill of Rights

  The Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was established in 1791 to guard against an oppressive national government by establishing...

• Carolene Products Footnote Four

  Justice Harlan Fiske Stone inserted a footnote that marked a Court shift in giving more constitutional protection to individual rights, especially those of the...

• Cato's Letters

  The First Amendment drew language from Cato's Letters, which endorsed free speech and said that people must be able to "petition for redress" their government...

• Constitution of the Confederate States of America

  The constitution of the Confederate States of America included the rights of the First Amendment. It protected those rights from any laws passed by the...

• Continental Congress: Declaration and Resolves

  The Declaration and Resolves of the First Continental Congress in 1774 foreshadowed rights that would be included in the First Amendment, including the right of...

• Continental Congress: Letter to the Inhabitants of the Province of Quebec

  The letter to Quebec was meant to urge Canadians to join the colonists' cause against Great Britain. The letter foreshadows the First Amendment freedom of the...

• Declaration of Independence

  The Declaration of Independence shows a vigorous exercise of future First Amendment freedoms of speech and press, and paved the way for recognition of the right...

• Detached Memoranda

  James Madison's “Detached Memoranda,” written after his presidency, reveals his increasing emphasis on First Amendment separation of church and state...

• English Bill of Rights

  The English Bill of Rights of 1689 contains many rights that were later included in the First Amendment, such as the right to petition and freedom of speech and...

• Four Freedoms

  Franklin D. Roosevelt, in an address to Congress, articulated the four freedoms he thought every human should have, two of which relate to the First Amendment...

• Magna Carta

  The Magna Carta is a series of concessions that English noblemen extracted from King John I in 1215. The document remains an important foundation for many...

• Maryland Toleration Act of 1649

  Before the First Amendment was adopted, Maryland passed the Toleration Act of 1649, which was meant to ensure religious freedom for Christian settlers of...

• Mayflower Compact

  One of America’s most important contributions to government is the written constitution. The Mayflower Compact is the first constitution written in the New...

• Memorial and Remonstrance

  James Madison’s “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments” argued for complete religious liberty and against government support of religion...

• Northwest Ordinance of 1787

  The Northwest Ordinance primarily created the Northwest Territory in 1789 and presaged several provisions of the Constitution and the First Amendment...

• On Liberty

  On Liberty by British philosopher John Stuart Mill presents an influential argument in favor of free speech, making it an inspiration for future First Amendment...

• Pentagon Papers

  The Pentagon Papers, classified documents that were leaked to the press, became the subject of a major Supreme Court case regarding censorship and First...

• Proposed Revisions of the First Amendment — Conservative, Libertarian, and Progressive
• Ten Commandments

  Recently, legal challenges have been brought against public display of the Ten Commandments for violating establishment clause of the First Amendment...

• Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798

  The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 were Democratic-Republican responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts passed earlier that same year by a Federalist-...

• Virginia Declaration of Rights

  The Virginia Declaration of Rights outlined rights similar to those later incorporated into the U.S. Bill of Rights, including some similar to the First...

• Virginia Report of 1800

  James Madison’s Report of 1800 argued for full freedom of speech and press as indispensable checks on officeholders under a republican form of government...

• Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom

  The 1786 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was the driving force behind the religious clauses of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, ratified in...