The right to assemble is recognized as a human right and protected in the First Amendment of the US Constitution under the clause, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."[1]

Widespread mass protest became a distinct characteristic of 20th and 21st century American civic engagement, with each of the top ten attended protests occurring since 1974 and each of the top four (as listed below) occurring since the advent of the Trump administration.

List

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In 1995, the National Park Service estimated 400,000 people attended the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., the official count for the event.[2] The organizers said more than a million people turned out, and they threatened to sue the Park Service unless it revised its estimate. Congress, in response, barred the agency from producing any more crowd estimates.[3]

Since then, official crowd estimates for organized political protests, demonstrations, and marches have relied on an amalgam of police data, organizer estimates, the research of crowd scientists, and journalists.[4]

The protests listed below are those occurring in a single city, which may be part of a wider movement of protests across the country or world.

Protest City Estimated participants Date Image
1 Women’s March on Washington Washington, D.C. 485,000[5] January 21, 2017  
2 2018 Women's March Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA 400,000 - 500,000[6] January 20, 2018
 
3 March for Our Lives Washington, D.C. 200,000-800,000[7] March 24, 2018
 
Protesters in Washington, D.C., 2018
4 National strike, part of the Telegramgate protests calling for Ricardo Rosselló's resignation San Juan, Puerto Rico 500,000[8] July 17, 2019
 
5 Scientists' March on Washington Washington, D.C. 100,000[9] April 22, 2017
 
Protesters in Washington, D.C., 2017
6 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation Washington, D.C. 800,000–1,000,000[10][11] April 25, 1993
 
Demonstrators in front of the White House
7 Anti-nuclear weapon march, part of the Nuclear Freeze campaign New York City 600,000–1,000,000[12][13] June 12, 1982  
8 Million Man March Washington, D.C. 837,000[14] October 16, 1995  
9 March for Women's Lives Washington, D.C. 500,000-800,000[15] April 25, 2004  
10 Million Mom March Washington, D.C. 500,000 - 750,000[16] May 14, 2000  
11 March for Life Washington, D.C. 400,000-650,000 (2013 estimate from rally organizers)[17] [18] Annually since January 22, 1974
 
2013 march
12 Million Woman March Philadelphia 500,000[19] October 25, 1997  
13 Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam Washington, D.C. 500,000[20] November 15, 1969  
14 People's Climate March New York City 311,000–400,000[21][22] September 21, 2014  
15 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Washington, D.C. 250,000–300,000[23][24] August 28, 1963  
16 Solidarity Day march Washington, D.C. 250,000–260,000[25][26] September 19, 1981  
17 February 15 Iraq war protests New York City 200,000–375,000[27][28] February 15, 2003  
18 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear Washington, D.C. 215,000 [29] October 30, 2010  
19 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights Washington, D.C. 200,000[30] October 11, 1987
 
Nancy Pelosi participating in the march
20 2015 Armenian March for Justice Los Angeles 130,000+[31] April 24, 2015  

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Andrew M., Winston (October 2014). "Right to Peaceful Assembly: United States". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on April 20, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  2. ^ Michael, Janofsky (October 21, 1995). "Federal Parks Chief Calls 'Million Man' Count Low". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 5, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  3. ^ Craven McGinty, Jo. "The 400,000 Man March? A Brief History of Crowd Counting". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  4. ^ Sabrina, Stierwalt. "How Do You Estimate Crowd Size?". Scientific American. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  5. ^ Silver, Nate (January 23, 2017). "The Long March Ahead For Democrats". FiveThirtyEight. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  6. ^ "500,000 people show up for Women's March in downtown Los Angeles". Daily News. January 20, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  7. ^ "It's official: March for Our Lives was one of the biggest youth protests since the Vietnam War". www.vox.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  8. ^ Morales, Ed (July 19, 2019). "Why Half a Million Puerto Ricans Are Protesting in the Streets". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  9. ^ https://medium.com/marchforscience-blog/the-science-behind-the-march-for-science-crowd-estimates-f337adf2d665
  10. ^ Smith, Nadine (April 25, 2013). "The 20th Anniversary of the LGBT March on Washington: How Far Have We Come?". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  11. ^ Schmalz, Jeffrey (April 26, 1993). "March For Gay Rights; Gay Marchers Throng Mall in Appeal for Right". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  12. ^ Jonathan, Schell (June 14, 2007). "The Spirit of June 12". The Nation. No. July 2, 2007 Issue. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  13. ^ Paul L., Montgomery (June 13, 1982). "Throngs Fill Manhattan to Protest Nuclear Weapons". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 10, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  14. ^ "Million Man March » Center for Remote Sensing » Boston University". www.bu.edu. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  15. ^ "Abortion activists on the march". April 26, 2004. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  16. ^ "Jack Kelly: A muddled mom march". old.post-gazette.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  17. ^ "'Life is winning': Pence fired up March for Life crowd". Fox News. January 27, 2017. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018. Retrieved January 21, 2018.
  18. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 17, 2018. Retrieved June 19, 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. ^ Tornquist, Cynthia (October 25, 1997). "Million Woman March fills Philadelphia streets". CNN. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  20. ^ History.com Staff. "Second moratorium against the war held". History.com. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  21. ^ Dastagir, Alia E. (September 21, 2014). "'Largest-ever' climate-change march rolls through NYC". USA Today. Archived from the original on March 21, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  22. ^ Visser, Nick (September 21, 2014). "Hundreds of Thousands Turn Out For People's Climate March in New York City". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  23. ^ "King speaks to March on Washington". History.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  24. ^ "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  25. ^ Pianin, Eric; Brown, Warren (September 20, 1981). "250,000 March to Protest Reagan's Policies". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  26. ^ Merlino, Joseph P. (November 1, 1981). "A Retrospective Look at What 'Solidarity Day' Meant". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  27. ^ "Cities jammed in worldwide protest of war in Iraq". CNN. February 16, 2003. Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  28. ^ Tharoor, Ishaan. "Viewpoint: Why Was the Biggest Protest in World History Ignored?". Time. Archived from the original on March 26, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  29. ^ Montopoli, Brian (October 30, 2010). "Jon Stewart Rally Attracts Estimated 215,000". CBS News. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  30. ^ Williams, Lena (October 12, 1987). "200,000 March in Capital to Seek Gay Rights and Money for AIDS". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 27, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  31. ^ Mejia, Brittny (April 24, 2015). "Armenian genocide: Massive march ends at Turkish consulate in L.A." The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 20, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2017.