Robb A. McDaniel is an associate professor at Middle Tennessee State University. He teaches in the Political Science and International Relations Department. He earned his doctorate at Vanderbilt University and his bachelor’s from Davidson College. (Read more on MTSU’s biography page.)

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Algernon Sidney

Algernon Sidney was the world’s most celebrated martyr for free speech. Sidney became a hero to American Founding Fathers who used the First Amendment to protect free speech.

Cato’s Letters

The First Amendment drew language from Cato's Letters, which endorsed free speech and said that people must be able to "petition for redress" their government.

John Locke

English philosopher John Locke's ideas of natural law, religious toleration, and the right to revolution proved essential to the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution.