Short Summary: The First Amendment

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First Amendment The First Amendment protects the five basic freedoms that are essential to the American way of life. These freedoms are: speech, press, assembly, petition, and religion. Freedom of speech allows you to say what is on your mind, in public or private places, without fear of getting punished. But you cannot commit slander or treason. Slander is when someone lies about another person in order to hurt their reputation. Treason is when somebody gives military secrets to enemies of the U.S. (anything to endanger our government). Freedom of press allows people to express themselves in print such as books, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and computer networks. Freedom of assembly protects our right to assemble in groups for any reason as long as the groups are peaceful. Also we have the right to attend meetings, parades, political rallies, and public celebrations. It also protects our right to join organizations. Freedom to petition guarantees all Americans the right to petition the government. This means that we have the right to express our ideas to the government. Freedom of religion prohibits congress from establishing an official…show more content…
In order for the democracy to grow and change the U.S. citizens have to give the government new and different ideas. Also without it we could not have words in our music, we would not be able to print newspaper, or everyone would not hangout in groups or attend any organizations, everyone would have to have the same religion, and lastly we would not be able to tell the government our ideas, because everyone would be afraid of getting in trouble and have to be punished. An example of why this amendment is important is what is going on with the current election. A lot of people are speaking out against the candidates that are running for or soon to be president and you can’t do that in many
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