After the end of the American Revolution in 1783, the newly independent states formed a government under the Articles of Confederation. Essentially each state was independent, printing their own money, governing their own affairs, and establishing their own laws. The Articles of Confederation were the first constitution of the United States. They created a weak central government which had no executive or judicial branches. They came about through a fear of having a monarchy and a desire for the states to be independent.
It quickly became clear that the inadequacies embodied in the Articles would make governing the newly independent nation. As a result, by 1788, the Constitution was written and adopted in 1789. That gave us the structure of our government today.
After the Constitution was written and adopted, it became clear that certain rights that had actually propelled the people to rebel against England were not embodied in the new Constitution. That oversight was remedied by the first ten amendments to the Constitution, those we call the Bill of Rights.
The wording of the amendments is crucial. They speak more to what the government may not do than what the citizen may do. The framers of the Constitution sought to limit the powers of the government; government is meant to serve the people. The Bill of Rights grows directly from the Declaration of Independence, stating the cause of rebellion and separation from England. That tyranny of control by a monarch was what they wanted to protect the nation against.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
In our current social atmosphere, Freedom of Speech is under assault by Progressives, those we often call the “woke mob”.
the right to peaceful protest and to petition the government4.