The First Amendment

Assignment: United States Constitution, Amendment I

This class begins with the shortest reading assignment of the semester: the text of the First Amendment. But don’t mistake its brevity for simplicity. In just forty-five words, the First Amendment addresses religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition—five areas of human activity that continue to generate some of the most difficult legal and political conflicts in American life. The task for this class is to slow down and pay attention to the words themselves: Words like “Congress,” “law,” “establishment,” “free exercise,” “speech,” “press,” “peaceably,” “assemble,” “petition,” and “redress of grievances.” Each word raises questions about power, liberty, institutional authority, and the relationship between citizens and government. We will use this class to notice ambiguities and tensions within the text and to examine how much is already at stake in the text itself.