Sedition Act

( 1918 ) Commentary by Kenneth R. Shepherd, Henry Ford College, and Michael J. O'Neal, Independent Scholar

Questions for Further Study

1. What motivated President Wilson to call for legislation that led to the Espionage and Sedition Acts?
2. On what basis did the US Supreme Court uphold the constitutionality of convictions in lower courts of those found guilty of violating the acts?
3. What was the connection between antiwar sentiment and the passage of the acts?
4. What sorts of abuses could have and likely did take place as a result of the enactment of the Espionage and Sedition Acts?
5. Historians have generally condemned the Sedition Act, in particular. On what basis might they conclude that the act was unconstitutional?