What freedoms are guaranteed by the First Amendment to the US Constitution?

1) Freedom of religion (the government cannot establish one or prevent you from practicing one)

2) Freedom of the press (the government cannot tell the media what to print or not print)

3) Freedom of speech (you can say what you want about the government)

4) Peacefully Assemble (you can get people together to protest something as long as you do not become violent or threatening)

5) Petition the Government for Redress (you can ask the government to make right something you feel is wrong)

6) Taxation of the Press (the Government can tax newspapers)

The above rights are technically not granted by the First Amendment. If you look closely you will not find the Word "grant" anywhere in the First Amendment. You will however find the terms "shall make no", "prohibiting", and "abridging". All of these restrictive terms are directed at the government. The First Amendment amounts to restrictions that are placed on the government, not the granting of any rights.

The reason that the First Amendment doesn't grant any rights is because all our rights belong to us and we have had our rights from the moment of our birth. Remember the "endowed by their Creator" part of the Declaration of Independence? What Jefferson was saying there is that each man is the possessor of their rights and they are not granted by any king or potentate.

Thus the question becomes, what rights may the government restrict or even deny? The First Amendment and the rest of the Bill of Rights places restrictions on the government in regards to the certain enumerated rights that we already possess.