Freedom of Speech

Freedom of Speech is the right to speak freely without the risk of being punished for what you said. It has caused many arguments and lawsuits over the years. Most countries have laws that protect the freedom of speech among citizens. Freedom of Speech is also defined in several international laws.

Freedom of Speech in America began in the eighteenth and nineteenth century. The first major known free speech discrepancy occurred in 1735 with a printer named John Peter Zenger. He was accused of publishing seditious libels, but was found not guilty by twelve New York Jurors despite the directions of the judge.

Around the same time that John Peter Zenger was alive a man in England by the name of William Blackstone wrote a book titled Commenataries on the Laws of England which influenced the beginning of free speech laws in England.

Blackstone's book laid out the bare minimum of protection for Virginian congressman James Madison who drafted the Bill of Rights.

James Madison's original draft contained two amendments referring to free speech. The first stated "The people should not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable." The other said "No state shall violate the equal rights of conscience, or of the press." Congress did not support Madison's second amendment but the first became the first amendment.

Today we often take for granted the free speech laws that many others don't have.