#1608 Ten Things about the First Amendment

Listening to America

History, Politics, Unitedstates, Society & Culture, American

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 July 2024

⏱️ 58 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Clay welcomes regular guest Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky for a conversation about the First Amendment, ratified with nine others on December 15, 1792. The First Amendment lists four protected American rights: 1) Freedom of Religion, 2) Freedom of Speech and the Press, 3) Freedom of Assembly, 4) Freedom to Petition the government for redress of grievances. James Madison drafted the Bill of Rights to appease the demands of the American people, who wanted a charter of human rights at the center of the new Constitution. Madison's 45 words are among the most important in human history. What do we mean by the "establishment of religion"? Why did the Founding Fathers feel so strongly about First Amendment rights? Are there limits to freedom of expression, and who gets to decide? How well is the First Amendment holding up in the courts today, and what can we expect in the next few years?

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome to this introduction to the podcast edition of this week's
0:03.9	listening to America, Lindsay Trevinsky, 10 things about the Bill of Rights.
0:08.8	Bill of Rights was ratified on December 15, 1792.
0:12.2	Dr. Trevinsky is an expert on the early national period in the founding generation.
0:16.0	As you know, we do these 10 things programs.
0:19.0	This one was on the First Amendment to the Constitution in the United States,
0:22.0	freedom of speech, freedom of the
0:24.5	press, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, freedom of petition to government
0:30.4	for redress of grievances. Is it the most important amendment?
0:34.2	Unclear, but it's certainly the first and the question we started with is is it the first because
0:39.1	it's the most important or is that's just where it wound up? I think it's some of each, actually.
0:44.0	Anyway, it's a really fascinating conversation,
0:46.0	and as you probably know, the wall of separation
0:49.0	between church and state, that's Jefferson's phrase,
0:51.8	is being eroded these days.
0:54.4	Louisiana just passed its Ten Commandments law for example and so on.
0:58.4	So there is an attempt to quote unquote take back the country by bringing religion back into the classroom
1:04.8	back into public spaces to break down Jefferson's wall of separation between
1:09.3	church and state and so stay tuned for all of that. That's vitally important.
1:13.0	And of course freedom of the press.
1:15.0	The point I made is that we have a breathtaking freedom of the press,
1:18.0	that you can almost say or write anything.
	...

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