First Amendment: Speech

Introduction

• What was the Founding generation’s vision for the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and a free press?
• What are some of the key periods in history that have tested the nation’s commitment to free speech?
• How has the Supreme Court interpreted the First Amendment’s commitment to free speech and a free press over time?
• How does the Supreme Court analyze free speech and free press cases today?

In this lesson, students examine the historical context and the drafting of the First Amendment by examining the motivations of  the founding generation. Students will also examine various types of “speech,” such as symbolic speech, hate speech, and political speech, to address the scope of protections promised by the First Amendment and learn that speech can only be limited when it is intended to and likely to cause imminent violence. In each instance, students will explore when the government has some authority to restrict speech; areas of consensus among scholars, judges, and citizens; the strongest constitutional arguments on each side of contested issues; and U.S. Supreme Court cases that have addressed free speech rights. Students will use the National Constitution Center’s Interactive Constitution to look at the viewpoints of legal scholars on free speech, where they agree and where there are matters of debate. This lesson can pair with the lesson on freedom of the press.