Lesson 1: Freedom of Speech and Press
Many Americans think of the Constitution as words on paper preserved under glass at the
National Archives. But the Constitution is also the product of an ongoing conversation among
Americans about the meaning of freedom in their daily lives.
—Linda Monk, The Words We Live By
Objectives:
1. Students will understand the history of freedom of speech.
2. Students will understand the importance of being informed about their rights and
responsibilities.
3. Students will understand the importance of learning to use their voice in a responsible
manner in order to make positive change in their home, school, and community.
Procedures:
Step 1: W.U.Y.B. (Wake Up Your Brain) - By way of an introduction to the lesson, students
will share their points of view on an open-ended question designed to build basic civic
knowledge, promote active leadership skills, and/or develop the art of deliberation. The goal for
this activity is to have every student in the class voice his/her opinion. To support students for
whom this would be a challenge, a THINK/PAIR/SHARE strategy is suggested.
First, present an open-ended question or scenario to the students. There are several examples
below:
 You see someone in your school getting bullied by another student for trying to stand up
for what he/she believes in. What would you do? Why? Be prepared to support your
answer.
 A senior varsity player brought a first-year varsity player along with him to a party that
was busted for underage drinking. Both players were caught and suspended from school.
When they returned to school, the coach allowed the senior player to play two days later
while the first year varsity player could not play for the rest of the season. Do you think
this was a fair decision? Why or why not? Be prepared to support your answer.
Have students work in pairs. Give the pairs 1 minute each to share with their partner. Then have
the students share their opinions with the whole class. Try to have every student give his/her
opinion. (Approximate time to complete should be 10 minutes.)
Alternative W.U.Y.B. - Some students might be more comfortable at first to share their opinion
through symbolic speech. Ask all of the students to stand. Identify a place in the room where
students should go who agree with a statement you are about to read and a place where students
who disagree with the statement should go. After they have symbolically spoken, ask for some
feedback about why some students agreed or disagreed with the statement.
Lesson 1: Freedom of Speech and Press
Possible statements:
 The right to free speech should be protected in all situations.
 Wearing a t-shirt in school that promotes using drugs should be protected by the right
to free speech.
 The Constitution should be amended to include protection for anything a person writes
on his/her own personal social media account.
Step 2: Providing Background of Information : The History of Freedom of Speech
This activity is designed to expose all of the students to the important background
information about the origin and evolution of our freedom of speech. Create a timeline
with dates across a chalk board or on a piece of butcher-type paper. Pair students and
give each pair a paper with one event that occurred along the timeline. Finally, have the
students read and discuss when they think their event occurred and ask one from each
pair to place the event on the timeline.
Freedom of Speech: A Timeline

1641
The first written protection of free speech in America is the
Massachusetts Body of Liberties. Published in 1641, it contains 100 liberties
intended for use as a guideline for the General Court of the time. This document
incorporates rights that are considered to be ahead of its time. Some of the rights
in this document later appeared in the Bill of Rights, most notable among them is
freedom of speech.

1735
In the trial of newspaper printer John Peter Zenger the first roots of
a free press in America are born. Zenger is the front man for some rich lawyers
who wrote anonymous articles criticizing the Royal Governor of New York.
Zenger is brought to trial for seditious libel, for criticizing the government
through speech. However, an American jury refuses to convict him.

1776
The State of Virginia passes the Virginia Declaration of Rights.
The Virginia Declaration is the first bill of rights to be included in a state
constitution in America.

1787
While preparing to write a United States Constitution, only three
states add freedom of speech to their list of proposed amendments. The U.S.
Constitution is adopted into law on Sept. 17 by the Federal Constitutional
Convention and later ratified by the states on June 21, 1788. The U.S.
Constitution is the oldest written constitution still in use.

1788
The United States Constitution is ratified.

1789
The U.S. Constitution is in operation.
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Lesson 1: Freedom of Speech and Press

1791
On Dec. 15, Virginia becomes the 11th state to approve the first 10
amendments to the Constitution, thereby ratifying the Bill of Rights. And now
that The First Amendment is approved, the nation erupts in a controversy over
the extent of free speech.

1798
Intense political rivalry leads to the enactment of the Sedition Act
of 1798, an act that essentially outlaws any criticism of the United States
government.

1801
Congress lets the Sedition Act of 1798 expire, and President
Thomas Jefferson pardons all person convicted under the Act. The act had
punished those who uttered or published “false, scandalous, and/or malicious”
writings against the government.

1800 to 1917 State and local government limit free speech in several ways:
 Southern states censor the mail in order to keep abolitionist materials out
of the hands of their citizens;
 Pro-slavery legislators prevent Congress from hearing petitions opposing
slavery;
 Courts often issue injunctions to prevent strikes. While labor unions claim
that picket lines are protected speech;
 The Espionage Act of 1917 is passed during World War I to restrict
criticism of the war.

1919
In Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court, for the first time in
history, rules on free speech issues. This case represents those who were
convicted of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. With Schenck v. United States,
the Supreme Court begins to consider the answer to what is free speech and what
are its limitations?
 The Court categorizes free speech activities in two ways:
 Pure Speech - Involves spoken word alone; i.e. debate, public
meetings. Pure speech receives the highest form of protection.
 Speech-plus - demonstration and picketing that combine speech
and action. Government may regulate the action components of
speech-plus.
 The Court limits free speech in the following ways:
 Obscenity - Speech can be "indecent" without being legally
obscene. Obscenity varies from community to community rather
than being held to a uniform national standard.
 Defamation - Hurting a person's reputation by spreading
falsehoods.
 Slander - Defamation using spoken word.
 Libel - Defamation using written word.
 Fighting words - Abusive/insulting words delivered face-to-face to
an individual.
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Lesson 1: Freedom of Speech and Press
 Speech that incites illegal actions
Below are cases heard by the United States Supreme Court that highlight issues
involving freedom of speech:

1943 In West VA State Board of Education v Barnette, Barnette is a Jehovah's
Witness who refused to pledge allegiance to the United States flag while in a
public school. The West Virginia State Board of Education had adopted a rule
that forced all teachers and pupils to pledge allegiance to the flag each day.
According to the rule, if a student refused he would be found insubordinate and
expelled from school. In this case, Barnette was expelled from school and
charged with juvenile delinquency. He could not be readmitted to school until he
conformed. Barnette asked for an exception for all Jehovah's Witnesses because
this pledge goes against their religious beliefs. He was denied the exception. The
Court ruled that Jehovah's Witness children could not be expelled from school for
refusing to salute the flag. The right to not speak is as equally protected under the
First Amendment as the right to free speech.

1969 In Tinker v DesMoines Independent School District, John Tinker, 15
years old, Mary Beth Tinker, 13, and Christopher Echardt, 16, wore black
armbands to school during the Christmas holiday season to protest the Vietnam
War. The district principals were afraid that the armbands would cause
disturbances in the schools and, therefore, asked the students wearing armbands to
remove them or face suspension,. When the Tinker children and Christopher
refused to remove the armbands, they were suspended until after New Year's Day.
The Court found for the students stating that wearing black armbands was close to
a form of "pure speech" and that the principals were not justified in putting any
limits on the students' free expression.

1986 Six hundred high school students were at an assembly when Matthew
Fraser made a speech nominating a fellow student for an elective office. Some
observers believed that Fraser used a graphic sexual reference to promote his
friend for office. As a result of this, Matthew Fraser was suspended for two days.
The Supreme Court heard the case of Bethel School District v Fraser and decided
it was appropriate for the school to prohibit vulgar and offensive language.

2007 In Morse v Frederick a student, Joseph Frederick, attended a schoolsupervised event and held up a banner that said, Bong Hits 4 Jesus, a slang
reference to marijuana smoking. The school Principal, Deborah Morse, took
away the banner and suspended Joseph Frederick for ten days. Frederick sued
stating that this was a violation of his right to free speech. The District Court
ruled in favor of the Principal. The U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the decision.
The U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruling
© 2013 Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge
Lesson 1: Freedom of Speech and Press
that school officials can prohibit students from displaying messages that promote
illegal drug use.
If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to
the slaughter!
—George Washington, 1783
Step 3:
The First Amendment and Social Media:
Students Rights & Responsibilities
Students should read the Wilson Brothers v Lee's Summit North High School, a case that
was heard in November 2012 by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Then pick six
students to serve on a jury and divide the rest of the class into two groups: one group who
will defend the Wilson brothers' right to free speech and ask that their suspension be
lifted; one group who will defend the school's opinion that the Wilson brothers' right to
free speech should not be protected under their circumstances and that the punishment or
some punishment should stand. After each side presents their "case," let the jury of six
make the decision.
Wilson Brothers v Lee's Summit North High School
In the Fall 2012, the twin Wilson brothers, juniors at Lee's Summit North High School,
created a website that they called NorthPress. The website contained a blog. The
website used a Dutch domain name but any United States user who knew the website
address could access the site. The Wilson brothers added blog posts on their website that
contained offensive, racist and sexual comments that were specifically directed at other
students at Lee's Summit North High School. Although the Wilson brothers only gave
five or six friends information on how top access the site, within three days of the
offensive blog posts, the school's whole student body learned about NorthPress and its
blog. According to reports from teachers at the high school, students were upset about
the blog. In addition, students became distracted. As the word got out, local media
arrived at the high school and parents reached out with safety concerns. With all of the
attention, the school administration immediately suspended the Wilson brothers for 10
days from school. They scheduled a hearing for the boys in front of their School Board.
Following the hearing, the Wilson brothers were suspended for 180 days. The Wilsons
sued the school district for violating their rights to free speech. They also asked to have
the suspension lifted while the case was being heard. The Wilsons argued that their offcampus speech cannot be subject to school discipline. Furthermore, they argued that the
blogs were directed to only a few of their friends and that they did not create a substantial
disruption.
© 2013 Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge