Transcript Espionage Act of 1817 - A More Perfect Union

Do your rights change during a time of
war?
 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.
 What
you?
does the First Amendment mean to
 What

is Patriotism?
love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
 Why
might not all people living in the US be
patriotic?
 If
a person living in the US is not a patriot, do they
pose a threat to the US?
 On
December 7, 1915, congressmen and
senators reacted enthusiastically when
Wilson proclaimed in his Third Annual
Message to Congress: "There are citizens of
the United States ... born under other flags
but welcomed by our generous naturalization
laws to the full freedom and opportunity of
America, who have poured the poison of
disloyalty into the very arteries of our
national life" (Shaw 1924, p. 151). Wilson
added that such advocates of "disloyalty, and
anarchy must be crushed out."
 Who
do you think President Wilson is talking
about?

Hyphenated Americans- Americans who are from
other countries, in this case the fear is GermanAmericans and Irish-Americans
 Why
would people worry about these
citizens?

The Espionage Act dealt with a wide range of issues,
from criminalizing various acts of espionage to
protecting shipping. Mostly it was uncontroversial.
The act is remembered, however, for those provisions
that affected civil liberties.

First, Title 1, section 3, of the act made it a crime,
punishable by up to twenty years' imprisonment and a
$10,000 fine, to "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" and to "cause or attempt to cause
insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty
in the military or naval forces ... or ... willfully
obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the
United States."

Second, title 12 empowered the postmaster general to
declare any material that violated any provision of the
Espionage Act or that urged "treason, insurrection, or
forcible resistance to any law of the United States"
unmailable. Use of the mails to transmit such materials
was punishable by imprisonment and a fine.

Finally, as originally introduced, the bill gave the president
the power to censor publication of material that he
deemed potentially useful to the enemy. The censorship
provision faced stiff opposition from the press and from
across the political spectrum. Opponents included
Republicans from the progressive wing of the party, such as
Senators William Borah and Hiram Johnson, as well as
Wilson's constant critic from the party's conservative wing,
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge. Despite a direct appeal by
Wilson to Congress to enact this provision, Congress
removed it from the bill.
 On
May 18, 1917 the Selective Services Act
was passed. This required all men between
the ages of 21-31 to sign up for the Draft

This meant that these men could be required to
serve in the US military
 What
do you think of this
requirement?
 Schenck
did not agree
with the draft, he felt it
went against his rights.
 He created a pamphlet
called “Assert Your
Rights” and handed it out
to people
 Do you see a problem with
this?
 Do
you agree or disagree with the Supreme
Court’s Ruling? Write a 5-7 sentence essay
over your opinion of the Schenck v. U.S. case
outcome. Start your essay with your position
statement. Then make sure to support your
opinion with facts (at least 4 facts) that you
have learned about the case, WWI, the
Espionage Act and the First Amendment.
4CATEGORY Above Standards
Position
The position
Statement statement provides
a clear, strong
statement of the
author\'s position on
the topic.
Evidence
and
Examples
32Meets Standards Approaching Standards
The position
A position statement is
statement provides present, but does not
a clear statement of make the author\'s
the author\'s position position clear.
on the topic.
All of the evidence Most of the evidence At least one of the pieces
and 3 or more
and 2-3 of the
of evidence and examples
examples are
examples are
is relevant and has an
specific, relevant
specific, relevant
explanation that shows
and explanations
and explanations
how that piece of
are given that show are given that show evidence supports the
how each piece of how each piece of author's position.
evidence supports evidence supports
the author's position. the author's position.
Grammar & Author makes no
Spelling
errors in grammar or
spelling that
distracts the reader
from the content.
Author makes 1-2
errors in grammar or
spelling that distract
the reader from the
content.
Author makes 3-4 errors
in grammar or spelling
that distract the reader
from the content.
1Below Standards
There is no position
statement.
Evidence and
examples are NOT
relevant AND/OR are
not explained.
Author makes more
than 4 errors in
grammar or spelling
that distracts the
reader from the
content.
Score
 Summaries
of the sections of the Espionage
act are taken from Espionage Act (1917) and
Sedition Act (1918)- A summary
http://www.enotes.com/espionage-act-1917sedition-act-1918-reference/espionage-act1917-sedition-act-1918