Topics: Americans prominently involved with First Amendment issues

• Albert Gallatin

  Albert Gallatin, best known as President Thomas Jefferson’s secretary of the Treasury, promoted civil liberties, including those found in the First Amendment...

• Alexander Hamilton

  Though initially opposed to the Bill of Rights, Alexander Hamilton had a lifelong concern with the individual liberties guaranteed by the First Amendment...

• Anne Hutchinson

  Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan religious leader who was tried and convicted for heresy, has been portrayed as a defender of freedom of religion pre-First Amendment...

• Elisha Williams

  Elisha Williams, known for writing a pamphlet that argued for religious liberty before the First Amendment, denied that religious uniformity was necessary for...

• Francis Biddle

  Francis Biddle won praise for balancing freedom and security in World War II. As attorney general, he fought for civil liberties like those in the First...

• Frederick Douglass

  Frederick Douglass, a former slave who became one of America's greatest orators, believed that the First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly were...

• George Hay

  George Hay was a lawyer, writer and federal district judge who contributed to First Amendment theory by writing pamphlets defending the freedom of the press...

• George Mason

  George Mason, a Virginia statesman and one of the founders of the United States, is best known for his proposal of a bill of rights at the Constitutional...

• Isaac Backus

  Isaac Backus, an influential Baptist, helped establish the notion of free exercise of religion, which eventually was incorporated into the First Amendment...

• James Madison

  James Madison, the chief author of the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment, was the foremost champion of the freedoms of religion, speech, and the press in...

• John Courtney Murray

  John Courtney Murray a Jesuit priest, theologian, and advocate of interfaith cooperation, was a lifelong supporter of the principles of the First Amendment...

• John Leland

  Baptist preacher John Leland helped provide religious foundation for ideas espoused by the Founders concerning the relationship between government and religion...

• John Peter Zenger

  The trial of John Peter Zenger was one of the most important events in shaping American thinking toward freedom of speech prior to and after the adoption of the...

• John Winthrop

  John Winthrop was an early Puritan leader who created the basis for established religion that remained in place in Massachusetts until well after adoption of...

• John Witherspoon

  John Witherspoon was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation as well as serve at the New Jersey convention to...

• Joseph Smith

  Joseph Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also called the Mormon Church. Smith and his church suffered and perpetrated First...

• Nathaniel Ward

  Nathaniel Ward wrote the first law code of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which is considered to be one of the most important works in American constitutional...

• Noah Webster

  Dictionary creator Noah Webster did not support the adoption of the First Amendment because he thought the Bill of Rights would give citizens the power to act...

• Patrick Henry

  Patrick Henry was an opponent of the U.S. Constitution. His opposition helped convince Federalists to agree to a bill of rights on the document, which included...

• Robert Ingersoll

  Robert Ingersoll was a sought-after lecturer in the 1800s and a passionate defender of First Amendment rights. He particularly championed separation of church...

• Roger Williams

  Prior to the First Amendment, Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, believed separation of church and state was necessary to maintain the integrity of the...

• Thomas Paine

  Thomas Paine is best remembered as the author of Common Sense a critique of King George III that called for American independence. His writings were...

• Tunis Wortman

  Tunis Wortman authored A Treatise Concerning Political Enquiry, and the Liberty of the Press in 1800. It attempted to portray freedom of the press as an...

• William Penn

  William Penn (1644-1718), founder of Pennsylvania, promoted principles of freedom that helped lay the framework for First Amendment religious liberty...