Not far from home is a lake. Not far from the other way is a farm. The two seldom intersect, except when storms stir both or kids done with chores find the lake. The lake is populated with loons. The farm has at least one self-assured rooster. Sometimes, rather surprisingly, loons and roosters converse.
As we approach our Nation’s 250th Birthday, celebrating the Declaration of Independence being signed July 4, 1776, there is value in remembering our rights – especially the right to free speech.
After the Declaration, our “War for Independence” or Revolutionary War took seven years to win. Then, the question was how to preserve the rights for which so many fought and died.
The Founders gathered in Philadelphia in 1787, 11 years after the Declaration’s signing, itself exactly 11 years after nine patriots gathered under a tree and called themselves “Sons of Liberty.”
The Constitution – with seven articles – was adopted in 1787. The seven set forth how we, a newly free people, would form a nation and govern ourselves. At the time, self-determination, people peaceably governing themselves, was a bold, hard to implement idea. It still is.
The seven articles laid out a blueprint – maximum liberty for individuals under one flag, one union, equal treatment for all. This would only include black Americans after the horrific Civil War.
We would have a government divided – as many colonies had been – into a Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branch, each balancing the other two. The last four articles described State Relations, the Amendment Process, National Supremacy, and Ratification.
They thought they were done, and it had been a hot summer – no air conditioning – in Philadelphia. Smallpox – a deadly disease – ravaged the land. They were not. Some also wanted a “Bill of Rights,” foreseeing possible federal overreach.
Alexander Hamilton of New York saw no need. He said the Constitution gave only explicit rights to the federal government. “Why declare that things shall not be done which there is no power to do?” Others already feared the concentration of power.
Hamilton responded that a “Bill of Rights” might leave some out, opening the door for federal assertion of power over rights excluded. He was overridden by George Mason, Patrick Henry, and Elbridge Gerry – who insisted individual rights be protected in a “Bill of Rights.”
So, the Founders reconvened. James Madison helped narrow 60 proposed amendments protecting rights to ten fundamental ones. These ten – the first ten amendments to our Constitution – cleared the way for our Constitution’s ratification in 1791.
But here is where it gets very interesting. The First Amendment protects our right to free speech, religion, press, assembly, and petition. The Second Amendment assures the First by protecting our right to “keep and bear arms” in support of liberties.
Why did free speech come first, just after “free exercise” of religion? Why is speech so important? Historians say two reasons: First, the British punished free speech. Second, free speech – often hostile – was how the Founders actually got to “truth” in the Constitutional Convention.
Both of these conclusions are right. The British punished dissent, and “truth, including our ‘Bill of Rights’ was ‘found’ by verbal sword crossing. And it surely was the “truth,” because here we are, 250 years later, world’s greatest nation and still self-governing.
But a third reason for free speech is often not talked about. It is almost as important as avoiding tyranny and finding truth through the exchange of opinions. Even when people do not understand each other, they long to be heard, they need to “vent,” to speak into the universe without obstruction.
Here is where my lake loons and farm rooster come in. The other night, I listened as the loons spoke up, and each time they did, the rooster spoke up. The rooster speaking then led the loons to get louder. This caused the rooster to speak up more fervently, until eventually they both quieted.
The phenomenon of speaking, hearing, responding, and repeating is protected by our First Amendment – whether we understand each other or not. Our Founders protected free speech because they knew firsthand the importance of being able to grouse, hoot, and crow without limit.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is the National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor (please visit BobbyforMaine.com to learn more)!
