Amendment1W4

**First Amendment**

 * Resources:** Wikipedia.org, firstamendmentcenter.org, law.cornell.edu, teachertube.com

1. What issues prompted the creation of the first amendment? 2. What impact did the first amendment have during that time?
 * Focus Questions**

1. How many people were in favor of the first amendment? About 3/4 of Americans favor the first amendment. Many believe that the freedoms we are given do not go too far.
 * 10 Research Questions:**

2. What types of speech are not protected by the first amendment? There are some forms of speech that are not protected by the first amendment. These include obscenity, fighting words, child pornography, defamation, perjury, blackmail, and threats.

3. How would life be without the first amendment? [|life without the first amendment video]

4. What impact does the first amendment have on society today? Going towards speech, people are allowed to speak freely and people cannot tell them what they can and cannot say except if you are in school or threatening others.

5. What is the first amendment for? The first amendment prohibits the making of any law that does not allow for freedom of religion free speech, press, and petition.

6. What states were in favor of the first amendment? Three states including New York, Massachusetts, and Virginia were in favor of the first amendment.

7. What were the positive effects of the first amendment? This amendment allowed people to have more general freedom. This included freedom of speech, religion, petition, and press.

8. What were the negative effects of the first amendment? People cannot be penalized for speaking out inappropriately/negatively. Enforcing a punishment would be unconstitutional.

9. What percent of people were fort the first amendment? There was a certain amount of people who did like the first amendment. This was 66% of Americans.

10. What percent of the people were not for the first amendment? A certain amount of people were not for the first amendment. Specifically, this was 34%. They argued that the freedoms were excessive.


 * Focus Questions:**

Joseph Bellizzi 1. The first amendment was written because America's inception on citizens demanded a quarantine of their basic freedoms. One of the freedoms is the right to free speech. The speech that was prohibited includes obscenity, child pornography, and fighting words. Another freedom that was restricted was the ability to practice any religion. Another freedom was the freedom of petition. This was the freedom to rebel and protest. The last freedom is the right to press. This is so that writers can write what they want with minimal restrictions. These are the issues that prompted the creation of the first amendment.

Dean Schepisi 2. Before the first amendment was passed, there were few freedoms granted to citizens. There were laws that strictly restrained them. People were unable to voice personal opinions, preach different beliefs, and pay taxes that supported the church. If anyone dared to go against this, they would be jailed and tried in a court of law. After the first ammendment was passed, individuals were able to act more freely. They could speak freely, practice whichever religion they wished, and publish what they wanted. Nowadays the first amendment helps us express our selves in everyday life. This was the impact on society of the first amendment back then and now.