Throughout history there has always been an enduring struggle to find the perfect balance between the liberty of the people and the power of the government. Governments have made many mistakes in attempting to protect civil freedoms; they end up either too weak to defend our liberties or too strong, sacrificing the very freedoms they seek to safeguard. This difficult task is nevertheless essential, for the goal of any democracy is to protect and guarantee inalienable rights such as those enumerated in the First Amendment. The First Amendment was as controversial during the founding of the United States as it is fundamental to Americans today. However, within one year of the inauguration of the new federal constitution, ten amendments including the First Amendment were ratified, serving as the foundation of our civil liberties and a model for future democracies.

 The fundamental principles enumerated in the First Amendment reflect centuries of important historical and philosophical precedents. A fundamental principle enshrined in the First Amendment is the right to religious freedom. Religious toleration flourished in colonial America; the religious persecution that many immigrants faced in Europe resulted in the support of freedom of conscience. The Virginia Declaration of Rights affirmed this principle, stating that "all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience."

 The core principles of freedom of speech and press found in the First Amendment also come from both revolutionary and philosophical sources. During the American Revolution, colonists expressed their outrage with the British Empire through the colonial press. Fiery newspapers such as the Boston Gazette and the Massachusetts Spy resolutely denounced British aggression. By the end of 1773, free press had become such an essential part of the American Revolution that Thomas Jefferson proclaimed, "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter." The Enlightenment also proved to be a massive influence in the drafting of the First Amendment. In defense of free speech, Voltaire, a prominent Enlightenment thinker, once declared, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

 The historical and philosophical precedents of the right to assembly also stem from the American Revolution and English law. During the American Revolution, many colonists took matters into their own hands through crowd action, destroying symbols of British aristocracy and disrupting the Empire's bureaucracy. With the passage of the Stamp Act, colonists organized new revolutionary groups such as the Sons of Liberty to plan their resistance against the empire.

 These precedents eventually set the stage for the framing of our own government that would protect our civil liberties. With the failure of the government established under the Articles of Confederation, delegates at the Constitutional Convention reported to the Continental Congress with a new Constitution for ratification. Within almost four months, five out of the nine states had ratified the Constitution with little trouble. In the remaining states, a fierce ratification debate had taken place. Eventually, the debate showed two polarized factions, the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists.

 The Federalists were the more organized of the opposing groups. In the Federalists No. 84, Hamilton (under the pseudonym Publius) claimed that the guarantee of rights such as freedom of speech and religion "are in their origin, stipulations between kings and their subjects, abridgments of prerogative in favor of privilege, reservations of rights not surrendered to the prince." In a government "ordain[ed] and establish[ed]" by the people, Hamilton argued, "the people surrender nothing, and as they retain every thing, they have no need of particular reservations." Claiming that the inclusion of rights such as the freedom of religion and speech would not only be "unnecessary in the proposed constitution" but "dangerous," Hamilton effectively contended that furnishing "such a provision would confer a regulating power" and might be easily exploited. Other Federalists were convinced that each state had its own constitution and therefore, the rights of individuals should be best protected at the state level. Justifiably, eleven out of the thirteen colonies already had adopted a bill of rights.

 The Anti-Federalists, although certainly more disorganized than the Federalists, created a formidable opposition to the Constitution, especially by referring to the lack of a bill of rights. Patrick Henry, in his famous June 5, 1788 speech, proclaimed the sentiment of hundreds of other Anti-Federalists: "Liberty, the greatest of all earthly blessings-give us that precious jewel, and you may take everything else." In a document labeled the Anti-Federalist No.84, Robert Yates argued that civil liberties must be protected from being trampled by government. Samuel Bryan, in Centinel No. 1, forebodingly warned that the framers of the current Constitution "have made no provision for the liberty of the press that grand palladium of freedom, and scourge of tyrants, but observed a total silence on that head." Adamantly arguing for the protection of free speech, Centinel argued that "if the liberty of the press…could be rendered sacred, even in Turkey…despotism would fly before it." The Anti-Federalists believed that one of the core differences between a despotic and democratic government was the freedom of the press. By arguing that the new Constitution created a greater concentration of power further removed from the people's state governments, Anti-Federalists declared that the civil liberties of man must be explicitly stated: "In forming a government on its true principles, the foundation should be laid…by expressly reserving to the people…their essential natural rights."

 The fierce opposition from the Anti-Federalists sharply polarized Massachusetts as well as other states such as New York and Virginia. On February 6, 1788, Massachusetts, by a narrow margin of votes, ratified the new Constitution, with the recommendation that a bill of rights be added to defend civil liberties from the federal abuse. Soon thereafter, other states such as New York and New Hampshire followed Massachusetts in ratifying the Constitution with similar recommendations. The Federalists managed a close victory.

 Although the new Constitution was ratified, many Federalists began to agree that a bill of rights that protected individual liberties was paramount to the nation's success. Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Madison, wrote that "[A] bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference." Even James Madison, who previously stated that a bill of rights would be ineffectual, soon recognized that the people wanted a guarantee of their liberties.

 Madison, as well as many other revolutionary leaders, believed that the First Amendment was fundamental and essential for the lasting success and prosperity of the United States because of its ability to "fortify the rights of the people against the encroachments of the government." Combing through the states' recommendations, Madison struggled to provide a "security of rights" to satisfy the American people. On December 15, 1791 ten out of the twelve original amendments submitted were ratified, including the First Amendment. Victorious, Madison declared the First Amendment provisions of religious freedom, right to peaceful assembly, and freedom of the press and speech, as the "great bulwarks of liberty."

 The rights enumerated under the First Amendment that we considered controversial two hundred years ago are now fundamental. We rely on the civil liberties enshrined in the First Amendment everywhere today, whether it is seeing the free American press expose corruption, being able to choose which religion we want to believe in, participating in a rally for human rights, or making a speech with a free conscience. One can only imagine how different America would have been without these civil liberties; we would have been a nation where Martin Luther King Jr. could not have delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, a nation with a state-controlled media and an everlasting corrupt bureaucracy, or a nation that forces all its citizens to follow a predestined religion under its theocracy. We have used the First Amendment to fight against racism, totalitarianism, and social injustice while protecting our democratic values, free conscience, and inalienable rights. When people ask me, "What is America," I know what to answer: "our liberties, our democracy, our freedom."

 The birth of our government was a tumultuous struggle for America. In the wake of the failure of the fragile Articles of Confederation, drafters set out to make a permanent democratic republic where its values and freedoms would be protected. After the original drafters of the Constitution saw that greater protection to the individual liberties of Americans was needed, they quickly reversed roles and chose to amend the Constitution. And of the ten amendments in the bill of rights, the first would prove to protect some of America's most essential and fundamental liberties: the right to a free press, free speech, free exercise of religion, freedom to assemble, and freedom to petition. Even two hundred years later, the First Amendment truly has withstood the tests of time, defending what Madison had called the "fundamental maxims of free Government."