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Censorship Webquest |
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Historical Context: During WWI there was a tremendous need for the United States to get involved on the Allied side of the war if the Allied countries were going to withstand the Central Powers. However, the majority of the U.S. public was at best sympathetic to the Allies, but by no means ready to go to war for their cause. In an effort to create a "war will" President Wilson and George Creel (Chair of the Committee on Public Information and a member of the Censorship Board) started to manipulate and control the information that was circulating about the war. As a result of their efforts, the Espionage Act and Sedition Act were passed allowing for the government to have "wide powers to deal with spies, saboteurs and other forms of subversion; to control exports of materials that might be needed for the war effort; and to bar 'treasonous' materials from the mail." People who were caught in violation of this vague law could be subject to a fine of $10,000 and a 20 year jail sentence. During America's involvement in the war, thousands of Americans would be arrested under these censorship laws. Many Americans believed this to be a violation of their First Ammendment rights and tried to appeal their cases to the Supreme Court. The most famous of which was Schenk v. the U.S. Government. |
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Your Task: From the websites selected below and other outside sources, you must find information to either support or refute the use of censorship by the United States Government. You have the advantage of hindsight and therefore you can included any case information you choose, regardless of chronological incidence. From your findings you and your team must come up with a logical argument, defending your position in a classroom debate: "Was the U.S. government justified in its censorship actions during World War I ?" |
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Suggested Sites |
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Schenk v. United States (1919) |
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Schenk's Pamphlet: Assert Your Rights |
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Judge's Opinion with Links to Precedence Cases |
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Cases After Schenk concerning same issue at the Supreme Court Level |
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Cases After Schenk concerning same issue at the Circuit Court Level |
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Justices on the Supreme Court during the ruling |
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Facts and Reasoning behind the case |
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The First Ammendment |
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First Ammendment Topics, and Places to find News coverage of the Case |
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Background Information on Schenk and the Case |
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The Espionage Act (1917) |
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Key Ammendment to Espionage Act (1918) |
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Sedition Act - Selective Abuse of Power? |
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Wilson's Crusade - Notes from Thomas Fleming |
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The Problem of Dissent |
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Bush following in Wilson's footsteps? |
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Acts of Oppression? |
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Socialism in America |
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America Was Free and is Now Dead - Excerpts from Walter Karp |
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NOTE: You do not have to limit yourself to these sites, these are meant to give you and your team direction. Also feel free to use books, magazines, newspapers, etc. to further your arguments. |
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