Lesson 29: How Does the First Amendment Protect Free Expression?
An Apology for Printers by Benjamin Franklin (1731)
Franklin believed in the trade of printing as indispensable to his highest goals for society: the spread of knowledge and ideas necessary to self-governance. He laid out these views in his essay "An Apology for Printers."
Link: https://bit.ly/2qdL7Mr
Bill of Rights, as submitted for ratification
The Bill of Rights as it was submitted to the states for ratification. It included a preamble and ten proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
Link: https://bit.ly/2odaRsY
Blackstone Commentaries on the Laws of England
From Wikipedia: The Commentaries on the Laws of England are an influential 18th century treatise on the common law of England by Sir William Blackstone, originally published by the Clarendon Press at Oxford, 1765-1769.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhf39sr
De Libellis Famosis (1606)
From Wikipedia: The crime of seditious libel was defined and established in England during the 1606 case De Libellis Famosis by the Star Chamber. The case defined seditious libel as criticism of public persons, the government, or King.
Link: http://tinyurl.com/yj3b6hb
English Bill of Rights 1689
Act passed by the British Parliament in 1689 enumerating rights of British subjects and residents.
Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/england.asp
Magna Carta
From Wikipedia: Magna Carta, is an English legal charter, originally issued in 1215. Magna Carta required King John to proclaim certain rights, respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be restricted by the law.
Link: http://www.constitution.org/eng/magnacar.htm
Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641
From Wikipedia: The Massachusetts Body of Liberties was the first legal code to be established by European colonists in New England.
Link: https://history.hanover.edu/texts/masslib.html
Petition of Right
From Wikipedia: The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document, which sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.
Link: http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/petition.html
United States Bill of Rights
From Wikipedia: In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three quarters of the states.
Link: http://www.constitution.org/billofr_.htm
United States Constitution
The supreme law of the United States that provides the framework for the government. The Constitution outlines the nation's institutions of government and the most important rights of the people. The document was created in 1787 during the Philadelphia Convention. The government created by the Constitution took effect on March 4, 1789.
Link: http://civiced.org/constitution
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Virginia Declaration of Rights
Link: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/virginia.asp
