It depends on which of the founders you read, it was always hotly contested and depending who was in power pre-1830 which policies were followed. I agree after

It depends on which of the founders you read, it was always hotly contested and depending who was in power pre-1830 which policies were followed. I agree after the civil war free-speech was effectively eroded. BUT as you pointed out free speech started to be reconstituted after WWII. I personally would argue free speech started to degrade again in the 90's and has continued until today. It's an ebb and flow, largely based on politics at the time. That said, it's also not uniform across the country.