Which amendment guarantees freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition?

• A. Amendment 1
• B. Amendment 2
• C. Amendment 3
• D. Amendment 4

Answer: (A)

The first amendment protects five fundamental freedoms: speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. It bars Congress from making laws that would establish a religion or prohibit the free exercise of religion, and it also forbids laws that would limit free speech or a free press, or that would restrict the right to peaceably assemble or to petition the government for redress of grievances. This set of protections was included in the Bill of Rights and ratified in 1791 to limit federal power over individual liberties. The other amendments address different issues (gun rights, quartering soldiers, searches and seizures), so they don’t cover these specific freedoms.