Sedition Bills Of War Essay

Improved Essays
Sedition bills played a critical role in American war efforts. These bills barred freedom of speech and opinion, contradicting the First Amendment. Men and women who spoke out were prosecuted and convicted of “disloyal” speech. Speech considered disloyal included criticism of government and country, war and soldiers, and other “offensive” remarks that could be made against America and its components. The government passed these sedition bills because American citizens speaking against the war could cause speculation among the population, possibly leading to revolutions and boycotts of supporting the war. War efforts of the citizens such as bonds and factory work were crucial in the American process of fighting and winning the war. For example, …show more content…
Gag-rulers were people who supported the forbidding discussion of a particular topic by law. The title of the cartoon means that the metaphorical events depicted in the cartoon would happen literally if the supporters of a gag rule had their way. The cartoon depicts a snake with the words “Sedition Bills” tattooed across its body. The snake is menacing and large, and is seemingly ready to strike children labelled as “free speech”, "free press", and “honest opinion”. The snake overpowers the children, who may represent the First Amendment, while the snake represents the consequences of violating sedition bills. However, the snake could also represent the devil, because the Bible depicts Satan as a serpent. In the times when speaking out was a crime punishable by law, some people may have thought the sedition bills to be representative of terrible occurrences, and Satan is known to cause events as such. The setting of this cartoon could be 1918 Montana, as the state was one of the worst territories for punishment for violating sedition laws. The artist’s message was that sedition laws are violent and menacing, and that freedom of speech and opinion were not going to be able to “win the fight” against sedition bills. The snake is larger than the children, who seem depicted as helpless and weak. Sedition bills struck the Montanans and American citizens hard and barred many of their rights

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The Emancipation Proclamation, issued by Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, declared that slaves in rebellious states were now free. However, it didn't actually end up freeing any slaves. The states in rebellion ignored it because they believed they were no longer under the power of the United States government, and the proclamation didn't apply to the border states - slave holding states that were still loyal to the Union. It also could be viewed as a war measure, which would make it only temporary.…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Was the government right by taking people's rights and freedom or force them to do something they did not want to do, but had to because if not they would be considered going against the government. As the World War I was going on the Espionage Act came in 1917. This act prevents people from doing any speeches or protest against the government about the war would be punished. In Document 2 in the Espionage Act it says “ whoever when the United States is at war, shall willfully cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, 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… shall be punished by a fine…

    • 581 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    New Deal Dbq

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages

    This lead to a tremendous increase in demand for labor. Within months of the the United States entering the war, the national unemployment rate nosedived an astonishing 10% the level just a year before. The war effort created a massive increase in the production of equipment and weapons for the military. Combine this with the increase in defenses along American borders and the draft and suddenly there was a shortage in labor. Companies worked frantically to bring in new help and fill positions in order to meet the increased production demands.…

    • 459 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Constitution guards against tyranny by utilizing all three branches to keep each other in check. Each branch of government is separate, which allows them to not abuse their power and take advantage of people. Small and large states need to have one representative, as well as two senators. The three branches of government have prevented tyranny for a long time.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. Washington’s Farewell Address - In 1796, George Washington wrote and published his farewell address on September 19th. He had decided to resign from his position as the first President of the United States and wanted to give his final words of advice to the people of the US. Washington praises the success of the US, but suggests his ideals of keeping the US a neutral party in terms of foreign affairs and the avoidance of permanent alliances. He also warns the American people about the dangers of a republic form of government, although it has its benefits.…

    • 1171 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Sedition Trial of 1944 is a Gordian knot because the prosecutor of the trial had no real evidence against the defendants to prove any wrongdoing. The trial conducted to ruin the reputations of a few powerful people in America. The evidence produced a historical thesis that the government planned for over a year, the prosecutor of the trial wanted the jury to prove the defendants guilty with no real evidence against them, just based on the argument of what the defendants did or said in the prosecution’s evidence.…

    • 89 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Alien and Sedation Act were bills that supported the immigration of French refugees into the United States. As a result, of the chaos in France due to the revolution, many French citizens wished to flee. This caused controversy in the United States since many did not support the Act. This group, the Federalists, supported the XYZ Affair, which was known as a quasi-war between France and the United States. On the contrary, the Democratic-Republicans supported the Alien and Sedation Act.…

    • 1108 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    They also viewed the dissenters as too radical, and feared they would become too much like the French Revolution. The people the Sedition Act controlled were the people the Federalists thought were too patriotic and had very radical democracy, and would become more dangerous without their…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bourne’s claims and predictions in this document were shown to be accurate soon after they were written. Those who disagreed with the State’s military actions were not thought of as merely having a different opinion, they were “un-American” (754). Such dissenters suffered for their dissenting beliefs at the hands of vigilantes like the American Protective League, who considered it their duty to spy on other citizens. This behaviour was explicitly addressed by Bourne: “Every individual citizen...becomes an amateur agent of the Government in reporting spies and disloyalists…” Anti-government or anti-war speech was treated as a criminal offense (753).…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the years following the American Revolutionary War, American citizens, created the Articles of Confederation. However, after realizing that the Articles gave too much power to the government, American leaders decided to assemble a Constitution. The Constitution was ratified in 1787, and would later include a Bill of Rights, adopted in 1791, that would give citizens basic rights such as freedom of speech, press, assembly, and religion. However, between 1781 and 1800 these rights were taken from the common people to a great extent; the government enacted the Revenue Act of 1789, the beginning of 1789, the beginning of the electoral college in 1787, and the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.…

    • 532 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Sedition Dbq

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Throughout American history, times of crisis called for the renouncement of civil liberties, predominantly freedom of speech, to promote the safety of the country overall. John Adams passed the Sedition Act in 1798 in the midst of the Quasi War between France and the US, which curtailed freedom of speech. During WWI, a descendent of this legislation reared its ugly, controversial head when President Wilson passed the Espionage Act of 1918, which also punished any traitorous rhetoric or criticism of the federal government with fines and possible incarceration.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Bill Of Rights Dbq Essay

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to History.com, the Bill of Rights is the symbol of what lies at the heart of American idea of individual liberty, limited government, and the rule of law. The Bill of Rights was created to protect the citizens but was not considered important until supporters of the Constitution saw it was pivotal to ratify it. James Madison, the fourth president, was able to make the Bill of Rights officially became part of the Constitution in December 1791 (2009). With the Bill of Rights in place along with the rest of the Constitution, many supreme court cases had arise from citizens fighting for their rights. A prime example involved students John and Mary Beth Tinker with a friend in December 1965.…

    • 1511 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    ARGUMENT/CAUSE & EFFECT Thesis: Attacks on the Second Amendment is a problem. The topic sentences below will become the opening sentences for each body paragraph of your Argument/CE Essay. Topic Sentence 1: Attacks on the Second Amendment is a problem because, firearms are fundamental to the culture of the American people.…

    • 521 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the year 1798 America became a place of chaos after the unconstitutional laws passed under the name of the Alien & Sedition Acts. The Alien portion of the Acts increased the years someone had to live in America to gain citizenship and also gave the government the power to imprison or deport immigrants under the suspicion that they were spies. The Sedition portion restricted all American citizens from saying anything controversial about the government. The Alien & Sedition Acts were unconstitutional because newspaper editors and many others were arrested for practicing their freedom of speech, there was a great deal of debate between the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans because the laws weakened the Democratic-Republican…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    There were many reasons why the Founding Fathers were justified in rebelling against the British government. Colonist believed that the government was unfair because the king created unfair laws such as the Townshend Act of 1767 and the Tea Act, and the British caused the Boston Massacre. The Townshend Act of 1767 placed taxes on lead, glass, paper, paint and tea that were imported into the colonies. The Townshend Act was a new way to generate tax revenue in the colonies after the Stamp Act was repealed. This act started new ways to force colonists to pay taxes and created punishments for colonists who didn't pay their taxes.…

    • 624 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays