# Free Conscience and Free Speech: An Introduction **URL:** **By** Barbara Galletti **Published:** October 10, 2025 --- What’s the history behind Liberty of Conscience and Liberty of Speech, and how have they developed over time? In many parts of the West, people can mostly develop and hold their own beliefs and express them freely. These liberties, known as Freedom of Conscience and Freedom of Speech, were part of the foundation that helped develop modern societies as we know them. Nonetheless, these interconnected ideas of freedom have historically been under threat, and the struggle to establish and protect these rights stretches over the past two thousand years. What’s the history behind these ideas, and how have they developed over time? This is only the first episode of our Learning Hub series! Subscribe to our YouTube channel and never miss one of our monthly lessons. **RESOURCES:** Free Speech [https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/free-speech](https://www.libertarianism.org/free-speech) [https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/most-liberal-value-free-speech](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/most-liberal-value-free-speech) Free Conscience [https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/conscience](https://www.libertarianism.org/conscience) Cato’s Letters [https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/legacy-ideas-behind-catos-letters](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/legacy-ideas-behind-catos-letters) John Milton [https://www.libertarianism.org/topics/milton-john-1608-1674](https://www.libertarianism.org/milton-john-1608-1674) [https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/john-milton-freespeech-natural-rights-regicide](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/john-milton-freespeech-natural-rights-regicide) [https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/introduction-john-stuart-mills-liberty](https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/introduction-john-stuart-mills-liberty)