Why the 1st Amendment Is the Best
Amendment Essay
By: Christina Ramler Neil Gaiman once said, “The current total of countries in the world with First Amendments is one. You have guaranteed the freedom of speech. Other countries don’t have that.” At the time of the amendments’ creation, a vast majority of operating countries had not yet granted their people such freedoms. Granting every citizen of the United States this right seemed to have been an important landmark in this nation’s history. Along with others, this right is declared to the people in the first amendment of the constitution. The first amendment is the most important because it grants people freedom of speech, prohibits prior restraint, and declares the right to peaceable assembly. The first amendment is the most important because it grants the people their freedom of speech. This freedom is vital to expressing one’s own opinion of decisions that the government has made. An example of this right being denied is the current state of North Korea. Their citizens do not in any way have freedom of speech, and because of that they cannot criticize their government in order to improve it. Their government is very controlling and insufficient due to the people’s lack of rights. This example helps to enhance the importance of freedom of speech in the first amendment, because without it in a country the government cannot be criticized upon their behalf. Secondly, the first amendment is the most important because it prohibits prior restraint. Prior restraint is a government censorship of information before it is published or broadcasted. This gives the government major control over what can be said in the media. For example, if information had been leaked about a political leader’s wrong doing, the government would censor it from news stories and other publications. In this country, the government is not allowed to do this simply because censoring the media is keeping information a secret, and is not sharing the truth with the people on
By: Christina Ramler Neil Gaiman once said, “The current total of countries in the world with First Amendments is one. You have guaranteed the freedom of speech. Other countries don’t have that.” At the time of the amendments’ creation, a vast majority of operating countries had not yet granted their people such freedoms. Granting every citizen of the United States this right seemed to have been an important landmark in this nation’s history. Along with others, this right is declared to the people in the first amendment of the constitution. The first amendment is the most important because it grants people freedom of speech, prohibits prior restraint, and declares the right to peaceable assembly. The first amendment is the most important because it grants the people their freedom of speech. This freedom is vital to expressing one’s own opinion of decisions that the government has made. An example of this right being denied is the current state of North Korea. Their citizens do not in any way have freedom of speech, and because of that they cannot criticize their government in order to improve it. Their government is very controlling and insufficient due to the people’s lack of rights. This example helps to enhance the importance of freedom of speech in the first amendment, because without it in a country the government cannot be criticized upon their behalf. Secondly, the first amendment is the most important because it prohibits prior restraint. Prior restraint is a government censorship of information before it is published or broadcasted. This gives the government major control over what can be said in the media. For example, if information had been leaked about a political leader’s wrong doing, the government would censor it from news stories and other publications. In this country, the government is not allowed to do this simply because censoring the media is keeping information a secret, and is not sharing the truth with the people on
Bibliography: Bookrags Media Network. "Amendment Quotes." BrainyQuote. BrainyQuote, 2001. Web. 15 Oct. 2012. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/amendments.html>.