10 Facts About the First Amendment
By Sarah Lunsford, Intern at Liberty Institute
1. The First Amendment is part of the first 10 Amendments to the U.S. Constitution that make up the Bill of Rights.
2. The First Amendment is 45 words long.
3. It lists 5 freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition for redress of grievances.
4. It was adopted on December 15, 1791.
5. James Madison, who drafted the First Amendment, originally opposed the idea of a Bill of Rights.
6. The original language of the First Amendment, written by James Madison, read: “The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.”
7. When the Constitution was signed on September 17, 1787, it did not contain the language of the First Amendment. It was not until four years later, in 1791, that the First Amendment was added to the Constitution.
8. Without the Bill of Rights, and subsequently the First Amendment, the Constitution may not have been adopted.
9. Though many reference the First Amendment as what establishes “a wall separation between church and state” that phrase does not appear in the First Amendment or the Constitution at all.
10. While the interpretation of the First Amendment is a common topic of debate today, it passed the House and Senate with almost no recorded debate.
Thanks for reading and have a great rest of your week!!
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/about-the-first-amendment
http://cojmc.unl.edu/firstamendment/funfacts.php
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/ninth_amendment
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