Publication Date

1989

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Journalism

LCSH

Constitutional law--United States--Amendments--1st

Abstract

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is both fundamental to the unique American personality and of endless fascination to scholars. However, most scholarly examinations of the First Amendment are incomplete, for their authors choose to examine either the free speech and press clauses or the religion clauses, and fail to consider the interrelationship between these fundamental freedoms. This study examines the historical sources of the American concepts of freedom of belief and freedom of expression, traces the development of these freedoms in colonial and early American history, and considers the diverse body of Supreme Court cases in the twentieth century that were or could have been argued on either free speech or free exercise grounds. The evidence suggests that free exercise of religion, that is, freedom of belief, is the fundamental freedom from which other First Amendment freedoms have grown, and that free exercise claims have frequently won concessions from the high court which are not granted to non-religious petitioners. Although the current court may be seen as less sympathetic to certain free exercise claims, and although the speech clause as currently interpreted is so strong as to stand unaided most of the time, the historical pattern and theoretical importance of religious liberty suggests that this seminal liberty is an important precursor of general First Amendment rights.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages 281-284)

Extent

vii, 288 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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