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Click on the tabs below to view major and detailed events that shaped this graph. Click here for suggestions on how this graph can trend upwards!
Sedition Act (1798)
Not war, but fear of war is what caused the Sedition Act to pass, apparently. Today the act is considered illegal. It targeted presidential opposition publishers during President John Adams administration. Capital Hill politics rose above a fundamental, founding element for a new "for the people" nation - the Freedom of the Press.
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
In this landmark civil rights case, the Supreme Court looked back to original intent of Freedom of the Press, before the Sedition Act. The justices determined the Sedition Act was a fundamental violation of the First Amendment. Martin Luther King Jr. started this case when his advertisement caused a defamation lawsuit in Alabama.
Before 1775
The American press reports for the English press.
1775
The American Revolutionary War starts April 19. The American press sets its sights on a new horizon.
1776
The U.S. Declaration of Independence is signed.
1787
The Federalist Papers and the Anti-Federalists Papers are published.
1788
The U.S. Constitution is ratified, without a Bill of Rights.
1789
John Jay, a Federalists Papers author, is appointed as the nation's first Supreme Court Chief Justice.
1791
The Bill of Rights is ratified into the U.S. Constitution.
1796
Justice Samuel Chase is appointed to the U.S Supreme Court. He was a staunch federalist, remembered as the only Supreme Court Justice to ever be impeached over his First Amendment, Freedom of the Press violations.
1798
The Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 is enacted.
1801
The federalists lose national power with the election of Thomas Jefferson.
1931
In Near v. Minnesota, the U.S. Supreme Court overruled a state constitution which allowed prior restraint on the press.
1964
New York Times v. Sullivan protects editors in civil cases.
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