The First Amendment is one of the most important rights that American citizens have today. The patriots of the 1700’s felt the important need to break away from the hold of the stifling British government and became a country unto themselves, establishing many of the freedoms we have today.  These freedoms include freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom to assemble.

Since our country’s inception, the foundations of freedom may be directly attributed to the regulations placed upon colonists by England and the desire of these colonists to become self-governing. When the Continental Congress met and began to write the Constitution they were careful to balance the power between the national government and the people in an effort to prevent an overindulgence of power by the national government as they felt Great Britain had done.