Why did Congress pass the Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Act in 1918 quizlet?
Throughout American history, free speech has often been tested during times of war. During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson pushed for new laws that criminalized core First Amendment speech. Congress passed the Espionage Act shortly after the U.S. entered the war. The Act made it a crime to convey information intended to interfere with the war effort. Later, the Sedition Act imposed harsh penalties for a
wide range of dissenting speech, including speech abusing the U.S. government, the flag, the Constitution, and the military. These laws were directed at socialists, pacifists, and other anti-war activists. The Wilson Administration argued that these Acts were essential to the war effort and prosecuted thousands of anti-war activists under their various provisions. While modern scholars view these Acts as violating core free speech protections, the Supreme Court at the time
upheld these convictions. The Supreme Court reversed course in future decades, increasingly protecting free speech over time—building on a series of famous opinions by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and Justice Louis Brandeis in the 1910s and 1920s. By the 1960s, the Supreme Court advanced a broad vision of free speech protections. The National Constitution Center Document Excerpt Espionage Act of 1917 Section III: Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall wilfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies and whoever when the United States is at war, shall wilfully cause or attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall wilfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, to the injury of the service or of the United States, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both. . . . Sedition Act of 1918 Section III: Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, . . . or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct . . . the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or . . . shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States . . . or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully . . . urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production . . . or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both . . . . Recommended textbook solutionsU.S. History1st EditionJohn Lund, Paul S. Vickery, P. Scott Corbett, Todd Pfannestiel, Volker Janssen 567 solutions Ways of the World: A Global History3rd EditionRobert W. Strayer 232 solutions America's History for the AP Course9th EditionEric Hinderaker, James A. Henretta, Rebecca Edwards, Robert O. Self 961 solutions
The American Nation, Volume 29th EditionPrentice Hall 865 solutions Why did Congress pass the Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Act in 1918 Brainly?Its purpose was to make it illegal to write or speak anything critical ofAmerican involvement in the war.
What was the purpose of the Espionage Act of 1917 quizlet?Act passed in 1917 that made it a crime for any person to share information intended to interfere with the U.S. armed forces or to promote the success of the country's enemies. No spying. Items the Espionage Act gave US postal officials the authority to prohibit.
Why did the government pass the Espionage Act?The Espionage Act was passed to bolster the war effort. Enforced by President Woodrow Wilson's attorney general, the law made it illegal to share any information that could interfere with the war or stand to benefit foreign adversaries. It was meant as a safeguard against spying.
|