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The House Of Representives
The U.S. House of Representatives adopts gag rules preventing discussion of antislavery proposals. The House repeals the rules in 1844. -
John Stuard Mill
John Stuart Mill publishes the essay “On Liberty.” The essay expands John Milton’s argument that if speech is free and the search for knowledge unfettered, then eventually the truth will rise to the surface. -
chicago times
Gen. Ambrose Burnside of the Union Army orders the suspension of the publication of the Chicago Times on account of repeated expression of disloyal and incendiary sentiments. President Lincoln rescinds Burnside’s order three days later. -
President Lincon
By order of President Lincoln, Gen. John A. Dix, a Union commander, suppresses the New York Journal of Commerce and the New York World and arrests the newspapers’ editors after both papers publish a forged presidential proclamation purporting to order another draft of 400,000 men. Lincoln withdraws the order to arrest the editors and the papers resume publication two days later. -
Anti-obscentiy
Anti-obscenity reformer Anthony Comstock successfully lobbies Congress to pass the Comstock Law. This is the first comprehensive anti-obscenity statute enacted at the federal level. The law targets the “Trade in and Circulation of, obscene literature and Articles for immoral use” and makes it illegal to send any “obscene, lewd or lascivious” materials or any information or “any article or thing” related to contraception or abortion through the mail. -
Congress
Congress passes the Sedition Act, which forbids spoken or printed criticism of the U.S. government, the Constitution or the flag. -
Schenck vs. U.S
In Schenck v. U.S., U.S. Supreme Court Justice Holmes sets forth his clear-and-present-danger test: “whether the words used are used in such circumstances and are of such a nature as to create a clear and present danger that they will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has the right to prevent.” Schenck and others had been accused of urging draftees to oppose the draft and “not submit to intimidation.” Justice Holmes also writes that not all speech is protected by the First Amendmen -
Thornhill vs. Alabama
In Thornhill v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down an Alabama law prohibiting loitering and picketing “without a just cause or legal excuse” near businesses. The Court writes: “The freedom of speech and of the press guaranteed by the Constitution embraces at the least the liberty to discuss publicly and truthfully all matters of public concern without previous restraint or fear of subsequent punishment.”In Thornhill v. Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down an Alabama law prohibi -
Enegl vs. Vitale
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that a state-composed, non-denominational prayer violates the the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In Engel v. Vitale, the Court states that such a prayer represents government sponsorship of religion. -
Cantwell vs. Connecticut
In Cantwell v. Connecticut, the U.S. Supreme Court holds for the first time that the due-process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment applicable to states.