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Why Is The First Amendment Important

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The Bill of Rights, which contains the First Amendment, was passed in 1791. For 226 years the Bill of Rights has been working for our country and it’s people. These laws were made so that we could express ourselves and live in freedom which is what our country is about. We are the land of the free. The First Amendment protects the most offensive types of speech as long as there is no violence. Freedom of speech is important so we can express how we feel as long as we are peaceful, and understand one another. The First Amendment gives us the right to express how we feel with freedom of speech. Everyone in America, and in other countries express how they feel, and what they believe in differently. Other countries such as North Korea, don’t have freedom of expression. When someone does say something that their leader doesn’t like they could be given a harsh punishment because they are ‘disobeying’ their leaders policies. Here in the United States, we can say whatever we want and not be punished the way that they are. Noam Chomsky, an American writer, expresses, “If we don’t believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don’t …show more content…

When violence occurs, the first Amendment is broken and they could possibly go to jail. You can make a parade, go on strike, or host a rally as long as all things are peaceful. In these events you can say whatever you may want and not be punished. In 2014, an unarmed black teenager was shot by a police officer which started protests in Ferguson Missouri. These protests turned into riots where hundreds of people were arrested, business buildings were burnt down, hundreds of shots were fired, and lots of injuries/hospitalizations. This is a tremendous example of breaking the first Amendment and also why we have this law. Without this Amendment we perhaps would have riots like these more often and no one would feel

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