Which First Amendment freedom did the chapter say already had an English legal precedent?
AThe right to petition the government
BThe freedom of the press
CThe freedom of religious worship
DThe freedom of public assembly
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: A. The right to petition the government
1. Many of the first ten amendments drew on the English Bill of Rights, including the right to bear arms, freedom from quartering soldiers in peacetime, jury trial and protection from cruel and unusual punishment.
2. The First Amendment is the striking exception: the chapter states that protections for religion, speech, the press and assembly did not exist under English law.
3. It adds one parenthetical carve-out, that the right to petition the government did exist.
4. The prohibition on establishing an official church also differed sharply from English precedent and from the practice of several states that had official churches at the time.
5. The Fourth Amendment's protection against unwarranted search and seizure was likewise new.
_Source: OpenStax American Government 3e (CC BY 4.0), Ch 2 "The Constitution and Its Origins", §2.5 Constitutional Change_
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