Chapter 8: The Early Republic: Conflicts at Home and Abroad, 1789-1800





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "Dissent during Wartime" in Chapter 8. Refer to page 215 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.



Questions to Consider
1. How have sedition acts changed over time? Do these changes reflect new technological developments and/or differences in culture?

2. What has been the role of the press during wartime in U.S. history?

3. Does the government have more or less control over wartime media coverage today than it has historically?

4. Should a democracy put constraints on the press and the dissent of its citizenry during times of national crises?


Investigation
Read the Sedition Act of 1798 and the Espionage Act of 1918. Then, take the perspective of either a wartime dissenter, commanding general, commander-in-chief, or press editor. Write a law that you believe protects the rights of free speech, the rights of a soldier, and the national war effort. How does your law compare during times of war to previous laws, such as the Sedition Act of 1798 or the Espionage Act of 1918?



Further Exploration
1. Read a short column by News Reporter Daniel Schorr, senior news analyst for National Public Radio, on his brush with laws such as the Sedition Act.

2. Read an account of Mario Savio's experiences in a Vietnam Day Teach-In in May, 1965 at Berkeley, California.

3. The The Electronic Telegraph in the United Kingdom identifies people arrested under the Espionage Act both during and after World War I.