Criticize the Government, Go to Prison: A World War I Lesson That Still Resonates Today

Every year I teach World War I, and every year my students are surprised to learn that the United States once made it a crime to criticize the government. Although this year, a lot of students were less surprised. The Espionage Act of 1917 despite its name had little to do with spies. Its most sweeping provisions made it a federal crime to obstruct military recruitment or say anything that might cause “insubordination” in the armed forces. It also gave the Postmaster General the power to deny mailing privileges to any publication deemed seditious, strangling anti-war newspapers before they could reach readers.The Sedition Act of 1918 went further, criminalizing any “disloyal, profane, or abusive” language about the government, Constitution, or military. Not actions. Just words. Socialist leader Eugene Debs was sentenced to ten years for a speech encouraging men to resist the draft. Rose Pastor Stokes got the same sentence for writing a letter to a newspaper saying she opposed the war. Over 2,000 Americans were charged; roughly 1,000 were convicted.The Supreme Court largely approved. Justice Holmes coined the “clear and present danger” test in Schenck v. United States to justify the convictions, then later dissented in Abrams v. United States, warning the country against suppressing the free exchange of ideas. The Sedition Act was repealed in 1921. The Espionage Act was not. It remains law today.As a history teacher, I find this episode clarifying rather than distant. The mechanisms used such as vague statutes, postal censorship, equating dissent with disloyalty are not unique to 1917. They are a template. A blueprint. When we hear rhetoric today about punishing the press or treating criticism as betrayal, we are not hearing something new. I mean, just today, Trump posted the president posted, “Now with the death of Iran, the greatest enemy America has is the Radical Left, Highly Incompetent, Democrat Party!” Trump also said Saturday that “Radical Left Democrats have hurt so many people with their vicious and uncaring ways” and that “Fascist Democrats will never protect America.” Tomorrow ICE agents are being sent to airports to assist airport security as the DHS shutdown continues. Knowing the history doesn’t guarantee we do better. But not knowing it almost certainly means we won’t. Get full access to Yo, Miss! at saribethrosenberg.substack.com/subscribe