Mr. Young
English III
21 November 2015
Freedom of the Press The freedom of the press is one of the many rights needed for an American citizen. The right to a free press means that the right government does not have the right to censor the press. Censorship is when the government prohibits the press from reporting news. The freedom of the press is an integral part of American life and it has been upheld by the Supreme Court on numerous occasions, still, the freedom is in jeopardy due to the limitations the government has put on it. The Freedom of the Press has a long history that helped build America. For example, when the First amendment was created in 1791, it declared that “Congress shall make no law…abridging freedom… of the press” (Freedom of the Press). This benefited the people of the United Sates, because it gave them the right to express their ideas without having to worry about being punished by the government. Many inventions were made, such as Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press; due to the fact that people had the right to express their ideas. In addition, some colonies had “censorship laws controlling what could be said” and also had sedition laws to punish people for speaking against the government (Freedom of the Press). Even though the freedom was put into place, people did not really have as much freedom to reveal their thoughts as they do now due to …show more content…
Because the freedom of press was created, many Americans received the right to express their thoughts and ideas. Still today, the freedom of press is being ruled differently by the Supreme Court and is being jeopardized by the government. Even though the right to free press is restricted in many ways, one should be appreciative for having the right to express their