Argumentative Essay: The Sedition Act Of 1918
Sedition Act of 1918
Steven Gilbreath
HIST 2020
Darryl Austin
March 31, 2014
On April 6, 1917 the U.S. declared war on Germany. According to the University of Houston’s Digital History site, Woodrow Wilson stated, “there were ‘millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us,’... ‘If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression’”. Within three weeks Congress began debating the issue of espionage during wartime. President Woodrow Wilson’s administration drafted an act on espionage and presented it to Congress. During their debates congress completely removed the “press censorship” provision, and amended the “nonmailabilty” and “disaffection” provisions. After nine weeks …show more content…
In the spring of 1918 Attorney General Gregory asked Congress to amend the act. Attorney General Gregory sought to prohibit people from interfering with the government 's efforts to borrow funds for the war and to clarify that the act prohibited attempts to obstruct recruiting and enlistment, as well as actual obstruction of such activities. The general attorney used a then recent lynching of a German American accused of disloyalty to garner support. Gregory claimed that the public felt the laws were not strict enough to those disloyal to the war effort and took the law into their own hands. In May of 1918 Congress amended section three of the Espionage Act. It is this amendment that became known as the Sedition Act of 1918. Congress drafted the federal sedition act based on Montana’s sedition act. The federal act differentiated from the Montana act by only three words. The amendment forbade any person, “when the United States is in …show more content…
“Primary Document – U.S. Espionage Act, 7 May 1918.” firstworldwar.com. August 22, 2009. Accessed February 11, 2014. www.firstworldwar.com/source/ espionageact1918.htm.
Hunter, W. C. “Alien Rights in the United States in Wartime.” Michigan Law Review 17 no. 1 (November 1918). Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1277038.
Kohn, Stephen M. American Political Prisoners: Prosecutions Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994.
Lobb, Albert J. “Civil Authority Versus Military.” The Virginia Law Register 4 no. 12 (April 1919). Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1106338.
Wallace, M. G. “Constitutionality of Sedation Laws.” Virginia Law Review, 6 no. 6 (March 1920). Accessed February 7, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1064269.
Wood, Thomas E. “Nashville Now and Then: You Watch Your Mouth,” Nashville Post, August 5, 2007. Accessed February, 6 2014. https://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/8/5/
Steven Gilbreath
HIST 2020
Darryl Austin
March 31, 2014
On April 6, 1917 the U.S. declared war on Germany. According to the University of Houston’s Digital History site, Woodrow Wilson stated, “there were ‘millions of men and women of German birth and native sympathy who live amongst us,’... ‘If there should be disloyalty, it will be dealt with a firm hand of repression’”. Within three weeks Congress began debating the issue of espionage during wartime. President Woodrow Wilson’s administration drafted an act on espionage and presented it to Congress. During their debates congress completely removed the “press censorship” provision, and amended the “nonmailabilty” and “disaffection” provisions. After nine weeks …show more content…
In the spring of 1918 Attorney General Gregory asked Congress to amend the act. Attorney General Gregory sought to prohibit people from interfering with the government 's efforts to borrow funds for the war and to clarify that the act prohibited attempts to obstruct recruiting and enlistment, as well as actual obstruction of such activities. The general attorney used a then recent lynching of a German American accused of disloyalty to garner support. Gregory claimed that the public felt the laws were not strict enough to those disloyal to the war effort and took the law into their own hands. In May of 1918 Congress amended section three of the Espionage Act. It is this amendment that became known as the Sedition Act of 1918. Congress drafted the federal sedition act based on Montana’s sedition act. The federal act differentiated from the Montana act by only three words. The amendment forbade any person, “when the United States is in …show more content…
“Primary Document – U.S. Espionage Act, 7 May 1918.” firstworldwar.com. August 22, 2009. Accessed February 11, 2014. www.firstworldwar.com/source/ espionageact1918.htm.
Hunter, W. C. “Alien Rights in the United States in Wartime.” Michigan Law Review 17 no. 1 (November 1918). Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1277038.
Kohn, Stephen M. American Political Prisoners: Prosecutions Under the Espionage and Sedition Acts. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1994.
Lobb, Albert J. “Civil Authority Versus Military.” The Virginia Law Register 4 no. 12 (April 1919). Accessed February 10, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1106338.
Wallace, M. G. “Constitutionality of Sedation Laws.” Virginia Law Review, 6 no. 6 (March 1920). Accessed February 7, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1064269.
Wood, Thomas E. “Nashville Now and Then: You Watch Your Mouth,” Nashville Post, August 5, 2007. Accessed February, 6 2014. https://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/8/5/