Areopagitica; A Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Vnlicenc’d Printing, To the Parlament of England.

John Milton’s illegally printed and distributed pamphlet stands as the English-speaking world’s first great statement in defense of the freedom of expression and of the press. A 1643 Order of Parliament declared that no book should be printed or sold without governmental approval, granting its two Houses the right to break up unlicensed presses, confiscate unlicensed books, and apprehend those involved in their publishing. It was therefore brave of Milton to include his name on the title page, and to pronounce, “Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.” The termination of the Licensing Order did not occur for another 51 years, but Milton’s pamphlet has had a lasting influence. The U.S. Supreme Court, for example, has referenced this work in four separate cases in which it interpreted the Constitution’s first amendment setting forth the freedom of speech.