Big Question Final Post

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 The First Amendment and Our Democracy


Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center

Throughout our country's history, the fight for freedom has been a major foundation of our values and intentions as a democracy. Starting most notably from the times of the American Revolutionary war, and of course, involved with the fight for civil rights since 1619 as described by professor Smith.

The civil rights movement in the 1900's following the end of slavery is an extremely great series of events to analyze and break down when it comes to the inclusion of the first amendment within our experiences as a country and community. Said events are even still occurring to this day, with an excessive amount of protests across the country over racial inequalities and problems with the underlying system in our government.

The major first amendment-related event that comes to my mind before anything else regarding the civil rights movement is without a doubt the Montgomery bus boycotts. This was a response to the actions of Rosa Parks which were refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man and getting arrested.

TROY's Rosa Parks Museum to commemorate Rosa Parks Day, 65th anniversary of Bus Boycott

The boycotting of the buses was initiated by the word being spread about Parks' arrest through the actions of the NAACP's E.D. Nixon. Nixon was the local chapter's president who worked to create the idea for the boycott and encouraged Rosa Parks to be the plaintiff of a major case to push the civil rights agenda. 

The occurrence of the boycott sparked a global great number of violent incidents including the bombing of E.D. Nixon and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's houses. However, the boycotts had a massive success factor, drawing in significant attention from around the world.

This series of events lead to the supreme court's November of 1956 decision or ruling that confirmed bus segregation to be unconstitutional. Rosa Parks would ultimately become one of the most noted figures in the civil rights movement.

Essentially, Rosa Parks' simple actions let to real change in the country, and said actions were directly related to the development of the first amendment over time. Specifically speaking, this scenario is an immaculate portrayal of expressive action, which is a form of protected speech under the first amendment in the United States Constitution.

Uses of expressive action, speech directly, and assembly such as protests like the March on Washington, are continually seen throughout our country's history with the battle for civil rights. Even today, we see protests (freedom of assembly and speech) throughout the country regarding the issue of racial discrimination. This can be seen in events such as the killing of George Floyd most recently, where huge numbers of people expressed their anger in a mostly peaceful manner.

Regardless of what the issue may be or who is affected, the first amendment of the United States Constitution has allowed our democracy to continue to function towards greater freedom and equality for all people. It is single handedly the foundation of all possible strive for change, as without it, the government would be in too great of power, no longer allowing our country to be the very democracy I speak of.

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Rosa Parks

Bus Boycott Detail






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