Wednesday, November 25, 2015

In what ways did the power of the American government expand as a result of WW1?

The major expansion of American government power was
directed at the war effort; not at long time changes in governmental policy. The Lever
Food and Control Act created the U.S. Food Administration to garner resources for the
war effort. Under the leadership of future President Herbert Hoover, the Food
Administration urged Americans to observe meatless Tuesdays; wheatless Wednesdays, and
porkless Saturdays. The Espionage Act of 1917 provided penalties of up to twenty years
for interfering with the war effort, or inciting insubordination, disloyalty, or
 refusal to serve in the armed services.  Similarly, the Sedition Act of 1918 made it
illegal to interfere with the sale of war bonds, or say or write
anything,


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disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive about
the American Government, Constitution, Army, or
Navy.



Among those prosecuted
and convicted under the Sedition Act was Eugene V. Debs who famously stated he was
against all wars except one, and that was the worldwide worker's
revolution.


It is highly doubtful that the two acts cited
above would stand Constitutional muster during the present; however they were challenged
and upheld by the Supreme Court in the case of Schenk vs. U.S.in
which Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote:


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The most stringent protection of free speech
would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic
.



The Court held in the
Schenk case that the First Amendment did not apply when there was a
"clear and present danger" of evil results.

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