In what ways did the government effectively silence the brief emergence of dissent against American involvement in World War I? What examples reveal the level of aggression used against those who were suspected of disloyalty?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: The ideal answer should include:
1. The Espionage Act provided heavy fines and up to twenty years in prison for "obstructing the war effort." The Espionage Act became a weapon to crush dissent and criticism.
2. Eventually, Congress passed the still more sweeping Sedition Act of 1918, which provided severe penalties for speaking or writing against the draft, bond sales, and war production and for criticizing government personnel or policies.
3. The union leader Eugene Debs was sentenced to ten years in prison for a "treasonous" speech in which he declared it "extremely dangerous to exercise the right of free speech in a country fighting to make democracy safe in the world."
4. By war's end, a third of the Socialist Party's national leadership was in prison, leaving the party in a shambles.
5. Private vigilante groups like the American Protective League were used to harass those who opposed the war, including many newspapers.
6. Some people also used the war to silence their own critics. For example, the Nonpartisan League and the Industrial Workers of the World were both silenced, although the League favored the war.