The First Amendment is the most quoted line in American civic life and one of the least carefully read. It is forty-five words long, and inside them are not one freedom but five. Counting them, religion twice, then speech, press, assembly, and petition, and seeing how they form a single chain from a thought in one head to a demand on the government's desk.

Field Notes on the Republic was written and read by Michael Fowler. It was produced for Quorum (Supply Co.), an American civic purveyor. Music is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home," performed by the U.S. Military Academy Band, West Point.