Print the news and raise hell

A healthy disregard of powerful government is nothing new. The Constitution set up the American system of government, stating what the three branches of government could do — but there was a serious objection to the Constitution being ratified by the states. It did not say what the government could not do, and many states were unhappy about that.

Addressing this dilemma, agreement was reached that once the Constitution was ratified and the government of the U.S. properly elected, Congress would draw up a list of rights to be safeguarded and submit them to the states to ratify as amendments to the Constitution. The promise was kept, and 10 of the 12 proposed amendments were adopted, known as the Bill of Rights. 

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and of the press. Why was that important? Because without the press, the American Revolution may have never taken place. In the mid-1700s views about the way the British King and Parliament treated their American colonies were not positive, but without a press to publicize this throughout the colonies the citizens of Colonial America would not have known how widely spread this dissatisfaction was. Writing about it was dangerous. Under British law criticism of the king or his officers was prohibited under the “Seditious Libel Law” and punished severely.