Transcript Constitution Tested

• February 12,
2013
R.A.W.
• List the
rights given
by the 1st
Amendment.
• AIM 66
• How did fear
during WWI lead
to restriction of
some people’s
Constitutional
Rights?
How did fear and
suspicion during WWI
lead to restriction of
some people’s
Constitutional Rights?
I. America at Home During WWI
• 1917 Espionage Act -- you
can be jailed for suspected
spying and/or sabotage
• 1918 Sedition Act -- NO
ANTI-WAR
DEMONSTA RATIONS!
• Schenck v. United States
• 249 U.S. 47 (1919)
• Argued: January 9, 1919 Decided: March 3, 1919
• Facts of the Case
• During World War I, Schenck mailed
circulars to draftees. The circulars
suggested that the draft was a monstrous
wrong motivated by the capitalist system.
The circulars urged "Do not submit to
intimidation" but advised only peaceful
action such as petitioning to repeal the
Conscription Act. Schenck was charged with
conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act by
attempting to cause insubordination in the
military and to obstruct recruitment.
II Schenck v. The United States
1919
• Supreme Court ruled that FREE SPEECH
can be taken away. When?
• During WARTIME
• Congress has the right to prevent words
that cause a
• “clear and present danger.”
– Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
To draw this country into the horrors
of the present war in Europe, to
force the youth of our land into the
shambles and bloody trenches of war
crazy nations, would be a crime the
magnitude of which defies
description. Words could not express
the condemnation such cold-blooded
ruthlessness deserves.
II The Sedition Act of 1918
• The Sedition Act of 1918 made
it a crime to speak or publish
anything “disloyal, profane, . . .
or abusive” about the
government, Constitution, the
flag, or military services of the
U.S.
___Many Germans thought that the
Treaty of Versailles was unfair because
• a) Germany was not involved in the crises
which led to the War
• b) the bases for peace in the 14 Points
were ignored in the Treaty of Versailles
• c) the U.S. claimed many of Germany’s
former colonies
• d) they resented the loss of AlsaceLorraine to Britain
United States Senators who opposed the
Treaty of Versailles mainly objected
to
• 1. United States membership in the
League of Nations
• 2. payment of reparations by Germany to
the Allied Nations
• 3. the transfer of Germany’s colonial
possessions to the League of Nations
• 4. the creation of new and independent
nations in Eastern Europe
___The harsh conditions imposed by
the Treaty of Versailles after WWI
helped lay the foundation for the
• a) rise of fascism in Nazi Germany
• b) uprisings during the French
Revolutions
• c) divisions of Korea along the 38th
parallel
• d) Bolshevik Revolution in Russia