Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
Representative Victor L. Berger of Wisconsin and Socialist Party of America Members Bertha Hale White and Eugene V. Debs, photograph by the National Photo Company, December 13, 1924
The Espionage and Sedition Acts
Two months after the United States entered World War I, Congress passed the Espionage Act, making it a crime to convey information that could interfere with military efforts to defeat Germany and the Axis powers. In 1918 Congress added a new provision, known as the Sedition Act, which prohibited the public use of "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the United States, its military, or its flag. Congress repealed the Sedition Act in 1920, but portions of the Espionage Act remain in effect today.
When this country made its decision and went into this war, it was the duty of every American citizen to loyally support the Government of the United States in the prosecution of the war.
Representative Frederick W. Dallinger of Massachusetts, Speech to the U.S. House of Representatives, November 10, 1919
Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress
