Colonists were required to pay for English stamps on all documents, under penalty of death. This stamp was their response.

WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE (PEACEABLY)!

By the time the U.S. Constitution was written, “Americans” had only recently fought and won their independence from what they had perceived to be English “tyranny”.  It should come as no surprise, then, that the very people who saw the American Revolution with their own eyes, from beginning to end, would establish a Bill of Rights – a set of laws that was designed to prevent such a scenario from happening, ever again.

And the very first rights – the first thoughts that came to their minds that was immediately inked into paper were these:

“AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.“

Imagine what their motivation would be having written something so strongly worded.  These are the words of revolutionaries, pioneers and patriots.  They had an intimate understanding of the imminent result that a “government gone awry” will create.  This right to assemble was actually complimented by a specific purpose for assembly; to encourage the government to fix problems through a show of force.  Amazing isn’t it?

[Granted, they didn't have much experience in drafting Constitutions.  These were also the same people that couldn't abolish slavery and gave us the 3/5 Compromise instead.  Nevertheless, our 1st Amendment isn't too shabby at all!]

With this in mind, what are we to think when we hear a voice on a loudspeaker saying to us:

“By order of the City of [insert yours here] chief of police, I hereby declare this to be an unlawful assembly. I order all those assembled to immediately disperse. You must leave the immediate vicinity. If you remain in this immediate vicinity, you will be in violation of the [your state] Crimes Code. No matter what your purpose is. You must leave. If you do not disperse, you may be arrested and/or subject to other police action. Other police action may include actual physical removal, the use of riot control agents, and/or less lethal munitions which could cause risk of injury to those who remain.”

Think about it this way: the only way to declare an assembly to be unlawful is if it isn’t peaceful.  If it happens to be peaceful and is deemed unlawful anyway, then this is a bold disregard of our Constitution and the rights that it grants.  If we have the right to assemble and express our grievances with the government, and there is an organized attempt by the government (police) to infringe upon that right, then where do we go from there?

As it turns out, this is also the same concern that the authors had as well:

“Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.“

That kind of talk, however, is considered to be dangerous, taboo and even unAmerican. And certainly along the same mindset that the authors of our Bill of Rights had as they wrote the most important document in our history. Isn’t that rather interesting?

So this begs the question, “What does it mean to be ‘American’ anyway”?