Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
    • Reason TV
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • Just Asking Questions
    • Free Media
    • The Reason Interview
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Print Subscription
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

Alcohol and the Origins of the First Amendment

Damon Root | 1.14.2011 3:42 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Reason contributor and Keep Food Legal Executive Director Baylen Linnekin has posted a fascinating working paper to the Social Science Research Network entitled "'Tavern Talk & the Origins of the Assembly Clause: Tracing the First Amendment's Assembly Clause Back to Its Roots in Colonial Taverns." Here's a partial description from the abstract:

To better understand the freedom of assembly in America, one must explore and understand its origins. Tracing the evolution of the freedom of assembly requires placing this freedom "within the context of culture." Exploring the origins of the freedom of assembly in the context of culture requires tracing the right—as practiced—back to its fundamental situs, a term that can be used to ground rights in their proper place or places.

The proper situs of the Assembly Clause, research reveals, is in its birthplace: colonial America's taverns. Colonial taverns served not just as establishments for drinking alcohol but as vital centers where colonists of reputations great and small gathered to read printed tracts, speak with one another on important issues of the day, debate the news, organize boycotts, draft treatises and demands, plot the expulsion of their British overlords, and establish a new nation.

Download the paper here. (Via The Originalism Blog)

Read Linnekin on nannying celebrity chef Jamie Oliver right here and watch him talk government regulations and Washington, D.C.'s thriving food truck scene below:

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Another (Beatrice) Webby Nominee: UK Edition

Damon Root is a senior editor at Reason and the author of A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books).

PoliticsNanny StateCultureCivil LibertiesPolicyHistoryAlcoholFree SpeechConstitution
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (28)

Latest

Merkley's Marathon Address Decried Trump's "Authoritarian Grip"—But Executive Overreach Didn't Start With Him

Jacob R. Swartz | 10.23.2025 4:20 PM

Bernie Sanders Thinks Amazon Warehouse Jobs Are Exploitative. He Still Wants To Save Them From Automation.

Christian Britschgi | 10.23.2025 3:55 PM

The GOP's 'Capitalism' is Central Planning with MAGA Branding

Veronique de Rugy | 10.23.2025 2:50 PM

Don't Get a Nazi Tattoo or Praise Hitler: Advice for New Politicians

Robby Soave | 10.23.2025 2:30 PM

Study Finds Tariffs Cost Consumers More Than the Government Takes In

Joe Lancaster | 10.23.2025 2:15 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS Add Reason to Google

© 2025 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300