1st Amendment
Today in History: Sedition Act of 1798 Goes Into Effect
On this date in 1798, the Sedition Act went into effect. The law sparked fierce resistance and led to formal resolutions supporting nullification and interposition, penned by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, respectively. The Sedition Act was the last of four laws...
The First Amendment’s Wall of Separation
In an 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or...
A Brief History of the Freedom of Speech in America
When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he included in it a list of the colonists’ grievances with the British government. Notably absent were any complaints that the British government infringed upon the freedom of speech. In those days,...
The Constitution and Establishment of Religion
On June 20, 2019, the Supreme Court held that spending public funds to maintain a 40-foot Christian cross on public land doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution. The cross is a conspicuous symbol at a busy intersection in Prince George’s County, Maryland. It’s...