“Those who won our independence believed that
the final end of the state was to make men free to
develop their faculties, and that in its government
the deliberative forces should prevail over the
arbitrary. They valued liberty both as an end and as
a means. They believed liberty to be the secret of
happiness and courage to be the secret of liberty.
They believed that freedom to think as you will and
to speak as you think are means indispensable to
the discovery and spread of political truth; that
without free speech and assembly discussion would
be futile; that with them, discussion affords
ordinarily adequate protection against the
dissemination of noxious doctrine; that the greatest
menace to freedom is an inert people; that public
discussion is a political duty; and that this should be
a fundamental principle of the American
government. They recognized the risks to which all
human institutions are subject. But they knew that
order cannot be secured merely through fear of
punishment for its infraction; that it is hazardous to
discourage thought, hope and imagination; that fear
breeds repression; that repression breeds hate; that
hate menaces stable government; that the path of
safety lies in the opportunity to discuss freely
supposed grievances and proposed remedies; and
that the fitting remedy for evil counsels is good
ones. Believing in the power of reason as applied
through public discussion, they eschewed silence
coerced by law-the argument of force in its worst
form. Recognizing the occasional tyrannies of
governing majorities, they amended the Constitution
so that free speech and assembly should be
guaranteed.
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