>American history itself had tons and tons of situation where people risked a lot for saying things - including death. All within the scope you talk about. The

>American history itself had tons and tons of situation where people risked a lot for saying things - including death. All within the scope you talk about. The time span you talk about include runup to civil war, civil war, reconstruction - all of which were full of political violence. Now do European history pre-enlightement. It was way, way worse. Shit talk the church and the inquisition slows up. Complain about the cut of your grain that the mill takes and the local lord threatens you lest other peasants start complaining. The acceptance of freedom of speech as a general principal has greatly increased the civility of civilization.