![]() In December of 1915, during his State of the Union address in which he asked Congress to pass the legislation, he argued: He believed immigrants had brought dangerous ideas into the country. The German government was now the enemy of civilization and, consequently, so were Americans who resisted or impeded Wilson’s efforts. No effort could be spared to win such a great cause. Wilson hadn’t wanted war, but he had convinced himself that this war could bring about final, global peace, according to The World Remade by G. Defeatist news being churned out by a German agent, which was indicated at the time by men with short haircuts and traditional German pipes ( Library of Congress) Some were openly socialist, but some, like The Public: An International Journal of Fundamental Democracy, had its circulation stopped for simply repeating what President Wilson had already publicly said about funding the war. Around 60 publications had their mailing privileges terminated. Meanwhile, Postmaster General Albert Burleson was exercising his power to restrict publications he deemed insufficiently patriotic. (“You got nothing out of the war except the flu and prohibition.”) In 1919 - a year after the war - socialist Victor Berger was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for printing anti-war opinions. Presidential candidate Eugene Debs spoke out against the war and was also convicted. Holmes wrote that free speech could be curtailed when the nation was facing a “clear and present danger.” The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which upheld the verdict. Schenck was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. The leaflets urged the draftees to oppose their conscriptions and petition the government to repeal the draft laws. Schenck was arrested for mailing 15,000 antiwar leaflets to men who had recently been conscripted. The Act’s challenge to Free Speech was soon tested in court. Cartoonist Winsor McCay illustrates the peril of wartime laws, as Congress uses the Espionage Bill to drive Liberty from the Capitol ( Library of Congress) It also empowered the Postmaster General to deny mail service to seditious publications. ![]() It criminalized the use of “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” concerning the government, flag, or armed forces, or leading others to regard these things with contempt. The Act was amended to include what was called The Sedition Act. It also outlawed delivering or attempting to deliver any information related to national defense to any foreign government. His Espionage Act of 1917, which now included the death penalty, made it a crime to obtain information related to national defense, record such information, communicate it, convey it to an unsecured location, or assist in any of these activities. ![]()
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