A multitude of colonists came to America because they wanted religious freedoms. The Founding Fathers wanted to make sure that religious freedoms would be protected. This amendment was also created to ensure the separation of church and State. Even with religion as an important aspect of the Founding Fathers lives, they wanted to make sure that the State didn't try to force a national religion.
In 1789, James Madison was nicknamed "the father of the Constitution". He proposed twelve amendments that would become the ten amendments making up the U.S. Bill of Rights. In this respect, Madison was surely the person who composed the First Amendment. But he wasn't the one who came up with the idea, and there are several factors that complicate his status as author: Madison originally stood by the Constitution, viewing the Bill of Rights as unnecessary because he did not think that the government would ever become powerful enough to need one. His mentor, Thomas Jefferson, was the person who convinced James to change his mind and suggest a Bill of Rights. The freedoms described in the First Amendment--separation of church and state, religious free exercise, and freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and petition--were of concern to Jefferson. Jefferson himself was inspired by the work of European Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke. The language of the First Amendment was inspired by similar free speech protections written into various state constitutions.
The Constitution was made on September 17, 1787. It was ratified on June 21, 1788. This document is the supreme law of the U.S. At first it had seven articles. The first 3 articles talk about separation of powers. The separation of powers is where the federal government has 3 divisions: the legislative which has the congress, executive, the President and the judiciary, consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. The Constitution has been amended 27 times since its ratification.
