Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Times Film Corp. V. City of Chicago (1961)
Read the majority opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court in Times Film Corp. v. City of Chicago, a 1961 case that focused on free speech and obscenity.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: Truman vs. Dewey
Read about one of the most surprising political defeats in American history. The election of 1948 between President Harry Truman and Thomas Dewey was supposed to be a landslide. Find out about Truman's stand on policies, and read about...
Northern Illinois University
Ishs: The Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1917 and 1918 [Pdf]
From the 1994 spring volume of the Illinois Historical Journal comes this interesting and somewhat shocking account of how those who did not agree with the U.S. involvement in World War I were treated. Read how the basic right of freedom...
Boston College
Boston College: Feiner v. New York
Read the text of court opinions regarding the 1951 Feiner v. New York Case. Includes footnotes to Justice Hugo Black's opinion.
University of Maryland
Voices of Democracy: John F. Kennedy, "Address: "The President and Press" 1961
Read President John F. Kennedy's speech, "The President and the Press," which he delivered before the American Newspaper Publishers Association (ANPA) on April 27, 1961. In this speech, he attempted to explain and justify the Bay of Pigs...
University of Missouri
Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Exploring Constitutional Law
Although the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, its interpretation is open to many opinions, causing great controversies. Students can read the Constitution as well as the many issues that surround the document. If that proves...
Boston College
Boston College: Schenck v. United States
Read the decision of this landmark Supreme Court decision involving the 1917 Espionage Act Schenck v. United States (1919).
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: The First Amendment
This resource presents lessons on the First Amendment. It contains many resources for use with children, and links to primary source documents.
Other
Freedom Forum: First Amendment Struggles & Triumphs
Find out how the First Amendment serves citizens in real life by reading about Daniel Ellsberg, Mary Beth Tinker, and Alton T. Lemon, all of whom were principal litigants in landmark Supreme Court cases regarding the freedom of expression.
Digital History
Digital History: A Bill of Rights? [Pdf]
There was no Bill of Rights attached to the original Constitution, but it was a topic of discussion. Read a reconstruction of speeches of delegates to the Constitutional Convention who debated for and against the inclusion of a way to...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "I Have a Dream" by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech to over 250,000 people from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In this speech, King discusses racial...
Nobel Media AB
The Nobel Prize: The Nobel Peace Prize 1975
Read about the Soviet nuclear physicist, Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (1921-1989 CE), who received the 1974 Nobel Peace Prize for his "Struggle for human rights, for disarmament, and for cooperation between all nations." This website is...
Other
Behind the Scenes: The Mc Carran Internal Security Act
Read about the origins and impact of the McCarran Internal Security Act which President Harry Truman called "the greatest danger to freedom of speech, press and assembly, since the Alien and Sedition Laws of 1798." Find out how a fear of...
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: The Arsenal of Democracy
Although Americans remained isolationist in their thinking, President Roosevelt understood that the European allies needed help against the Germans. Read about the incremental ways America became involved in World War II in Europe...