First Amendment

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Apologies for the break I took last week! I was out-of-state for the Fourth of July, and when I got back I felt that I could use a week off. And now onto this new project!

A little while before the big 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I realized something: "I, as a 26 year-old American, am not very familiar with the constitutional amendments. I couldn't tell you what the 8th, 9th, or 10th is, and I suspect that many other of my fellow Americans would be unable to as well."

And so, I have decided to make it possible for adults to happen upon them in a fun way! I'll be doing a series of 10 of these pinups—one for each of the amendments included in the Bill of Rights—and providing a brief commentary regarding each of them. The Library of Congress has an excellent part of their website with collections of short essays about each amendment, so if you wish to do your own studying, here is the link: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/

Starting off with the first amendment, which you can read in the image above. It's got a fair bit going on, and is made of several "clauses." The first clause is probably the most fascinating part of the entire Bill of Rights, because we're not really taught the historical context of why freedom of religion was absolutely revolutionary at the time.

Y'see, before America, government and religion were basically one in the same in pretty much every nation ever. The ruling class would exercise power over the dominant faith, or vice-versa, and the two strengthened each other's position in society. The government got to say that "God gave them the right to rule," and the churches got government protection and favor. You see this very clearly in England at the time; to this day, the monarch of England is the head of the Anglican Church. Back then, attendance at government-approved churches was mandatory. That sounds insane to us nowadays, but that's just how the world was.

Even in the colonies this practice was inherited. What people often don't realize is that our country wasn't necessarily founded on freedom of religion, speech, or any of those rights that we often think of when we think of America. The Bill of Rights wasn't ratified until 1791. All of those freedoms didn't exist prior to the Bill of Rights, and even afterward those rights were violated from time to time. Although they're fundamental to our country now, it didn't start out that way, and freedom of religion was a huge issue. In some states, citizenship was dependent on adherence to Protestantism, and as strange as it seems to us today, it was actually the Catholics that were persecuted and ostracized. Even in the state founded as a sanctuary for Catholicism—Maryland—they were eventually ousted and Protestantism took over.

Freedom of religion was absolutely unprecedented before it was given to us in the Bill of Rights, and it is absolutely necessary for genuine religion to actually exist. Faith cannot be compelled, nor should anyone try to do so.

Freedom of speech is pretty straightforward, but still an absolutely monumental freedom that our government recognizes. Even to this day, no other country that I know of has such radical freedom of speech, and it is a dangerous thing in society to lack such protections. Without them, no other freedoms can stand.

Freedom of the press is an interesting one. Back in the colonies, if you wanted to print something, you had to have a license from England to do so, and they had heavy oversight over what was printed. Giving freedom to the press opened the gates for all sorts of things to be printed, and not all of them were good or truthful. That was a tricky thing to get a handle on for quite some time, and still is somewhat problematic to this day. However, losing the freedom of the press would be much worse, and so we must take the good with the bad and use our discernment to guide us.

The last clause is a bit less interesting than the other two, but nonetheless vital. Being free to create groups, stage peaceful (emphasis on peaceful) protests or rallies, and organize movements without government interference is a freedom we must appreciate. As for petitioning the government for a redress of grievances, that seemingly mundane right is basically saying "If the government screws you over, you have the right to call them out on it and have them make things right." Of course, our mileage may vary with that one. We all know how governments are.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the little tidbits I found interesting while researching! And of course, enjoy the sexy wolf that signed up to be one of the Bill of Rights pinup girls! She loves her country, as do all of the participants! These posts won't take the place of my usual posts going forward; they'll be bonus images whenever I get around to finishing them. Hope you guys enjoy this project! Adults need fun ways to learn!

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