One form of speech that was widely restricted in England was the law of seditious libel that made criticizing of the government a crime. The King was above public criticism and that statements critical of the government were forbidden. .
Today, freedom of speech and assembly are being vigorusly defended today. CBS news ran a story on December 4th, 2003 entitled "Silencing Voices of Dissent" According to the news Article, Brett Bursey was arrested during a presidentail visit to South Carolina last year. Mr. Bursey had been demonstrating outside of the "free speech zone." The ACLU is now engaged in a lawsuit against the "free-speech zones" They charge that the zones are so far away from the president they might as well not be there at all. Chris Hansen of the ACLU says "There's nothing more fundamentally un-American than punishing people for the content of their speech." This is only one example of how "Free speech" is still in effect, but it also is an example of the tightening of the noose on this right. Without the first amendment, all activists would be tried for sedition and treason, rather than pushed behind a fence, or pushed down the road for security purposes. .
Historically, one can find hundreds and thousands of instances where free speech has been used. However, without the Bill of Rights, our life may have been completely different. The Alien and Sedition Act threatened our Freedom of Speech when the speech was aimed toward the speakings of the government. Congress in 1798, along with many of the drafters and ratifiers of the Constitution, adopted the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The law prohibited the publication of "false, scandalous, and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, with intent to defame; or to bring them into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them hatred of the good people of the United States, or to stir up sedition within the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States.
