“Liberty of Conscience is Every Man’s Natural Right”: Historical Background of the First Amendment

Liberty of conscience, encompassing free speech, a free press, and freedom of religion, has a rich history in Anglo-American political thought, long predating the drafting of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1789. The debate over licensing acts in seventeenth-century England;...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of policy history 2023-10, Vol.35 (4), p.435-453
Main Author: BARTH, JONATHAN
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
15th century
17th century
18th century
Brochures
Censorship
Conformity
Constitution-US
First Amendment-US
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the press
Locke, John (1632-1704)
Members of Parliament
Milton, John (1608-1674)
Parliaments
Political philosophy
Politics
Printers
Protestant Reformation
Treason
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Summary:Liberty of conscience, encompassing free speech, a free press, and freedom of religion, has a rich history in Anglo-American political thought, long predating the drafting of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1789. The debate over licensing acts in seventeenth-century England; the advancement of principles of toleration by John Milton, Algernon Sidney, and John Locke in the same period; the renowned, impassioned, and highly influential essays of John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon in Cato’s Letters; the flourishing of a relatively free press and free church in eighteenth-century colonial America; and the liberty-championing assertions in the several declarations of rights in the newly independent states of America all played a critical role in shaping and inspiring the popular views in America that made the First Amendment possible.
ISSN:0898-0306
1528-4190
DOI:10.1017/S0898030623000234