The right of free speech is the ability to speak your mind without being coveted. Some people think they can say whatever they want whenever they want. That is not the case. Sometimes you just need to be silent. Some people will judge you for what you think and the freedom of speech cannot protect you from that. You also can offend someone with freedom of speech.
The Founding Fathers knew how important it was to the people to speak their minds. They wanted us to have some say in things so they gave us the freedom of speech. One of the only things that separated us from England was the right of free speech. In England there was one king on the throne and if he was a bad king, then too bad. You get him for the rest of his life. The king also got to choose his counselors so that no one that was a nobody ever got to be anything but a nobody. If the people tried to stand up and speak against the king, they were killed.
"Freedom of speech, of the press, of association, of assembly and petition--this set of guarantees, protected by the First Amendment, comprises what we refer to as freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has written that this freedom is "the matrix, the indispensable condition of nearly every other form of freedom. Without it, other fundamental rights, like the right to vote, would wither and die." American Civil Liberties Union
The freedom of speech is so important. It is one of the most valuable rights we have. Without this right we would have just about no rights. The Founders saw free speech as a natural right, a right God gave us.
Everyone has the right to responsibly speak their minds! Freedom of speech is the right to freely express yourself--encompassing all types of expression. This is a right that if the government took away we would lose just about all of our freedom. We would be in slavery.
I found a quote that I thought was quite funny from Voltaire, "I disprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
"Without freedom of thought there can be no such thing as wisdom and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech." Benjamin Franklin
"If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter." George Washington