Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The 1st Amendment guarantees five freedoms that are seen to be the minimum necessary for a democracy.
1. Freedom of speech
2. Freedom of the press.
These are seen as necessary to make our system a 'free marketplace of ideas'. You can't make it illegal to criticize the government or to suggest changes
3. Freedom of Religion - this comes in two parts, (1) that the government can't pick one religion as 'official' and (2) that the govt. can't make any law that interferes with anyone's practice of his own religion.
4. Freedom of assembly (i.e. speeches, rallies, even protest demonstrations)
5. Freedom of petition (you may write to your congressman or senator complaining about something and asking for a change.)
Below is a video relating to the first amendment, specifically to the freedom of speech. It was a court case that ultimately ruled "liking" a Facebook status is protected under the 1st amendment and one can not be fired from his/her job
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Below in this next video is man who did a social experiment asking people to sign a petition to revoke and re write the 1st amendment in order to stop hate speech and openly disagreeing with the president. You may be surprised by the results.
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