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Constitution Ratified
The United States Constitution is ratified with a recommendation from several states that a bill of rights be added to the Constitution as quickly as possible. -
Declaration of Independence
Colonies were finally free from Great Britain . -
Abrams v. United States
The Sedition Act made it illegal to "willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States." -
States
The U.S. Constitution Is Adopted Into Law and Then Ratified by the States, September 17, 1787 -
Bill of Rights
Virginia Approves the First 10 Amendments, Ratifying the Bill of Rights, December 15, 1791 -
First Amendment Ratified
First amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified, guaranteeing that "Congress shall make no law .abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." -
Tunis Wortman's Treatise on Free Speech
Written in the wake of the controversy spawned by the Sedition Act of 1798, the treatise argues for a very broad right of free speech. In order to advance knowledge and promote the improvement of society, Wortman argues, people should be guaranteed the freedom to "reflect and communicate their sentiments upon every topic." -
Schenck v. United States
which made it a felony to "cause, or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States -
Smith Act
making it illegal to advocate, verbally or in print, the "desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States." -
Chaplinksy v. New Hampshire
the United States Supreme Court holds that "fighting words," defined as "epithets likely to provoke the average person to retaliation," are not protected by the First Amendment -
Engel v. Vitale
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state-composed, non-denominational prayer violates the the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment -
Lloyd Corporation, Ltd. v. Tanner
Court rules that owners of a shopping center may bar anti-war activists from distributing leaflets at the center. The Court finds that citizens do not have a First Amendment right to express themselves on privately owned property.
