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. The first 10 amendments are called the Bill of Rights.
Wartime Censorship/ Sedition Acts.
There has been periods of times when this amendment has been set aside. The intervals are sedition acts and wartime censorship. The Sedition Act of 1798 gave federal authorities the privilege to bring to trial anybody suspected of plotting against the federal government. This act stopped legitimate political discussion, and was criticized for this reason. People who spoke against the government either bowed to the pressure or were punished because of this act. This act expired in the 1800s and was not renewed. Reparations were given to its victims, based on the opinion that they were coherent to the beliefs of the founding fathers and the first amendment. Another Sedition Act was passed in 1918, it said that speaking disloyal or abusive language about the flag, Constitution and government was a criminal act.