3 situations - what are your thoughts?

[Aunt Sponge]

I suppose the title should be "Three Acts passed in this country ... what are your thoughts?"

These are three references from my government class (quoting out of American Government, 11th Edition, written by James Wilson and John Dilulio)

I found these to be VERY interesting - things that mirror current issues that have been brought up from all sides of our curent political hot topics...

The Sedition Act was passed in 1798, making it a crime to write, utter or publish "any false, scandalous, and malicious writing" with the intention of defaming the president, Congress, or the government or of exciting against the government "the hatred of the people." The occasion was a kind of half-war between the United States and France stimulated by fear in this country of the violence following the French Revolution of 1789. The policy entrepreneurs were Federalist politicians who believed that Thomas Jefferson and his followers were supporters of the French Revolution and would, if they came to power, encourage here the kind of anarchy that seemed to be occurring in France.

The Espionage and Sedition Acts were passed in 1917-1918, making it a crime to utter false statements that would interfere with the American military, to send through the mails material "advocating or urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance to any law of the United States, "or to utter or write any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language intended to incite resistance to the United States or to curtail war production. The occasion was World War I; the impetus was the fear that Germans in this country were spies and that radicals were seeking to overthrow the government. Under these laws more than two thousand persons were prosecuted (about half were convicted), and thousands of aliens were rounded up and deported. The policy entrepreneur leading this massive crackdown (the so-called Red Scare) was Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer.

The Smith Act was passed in 1940, the Internal Security Act in 1950, and the Communist Control Act in 1954. These laws made it illegal to advocate the overthrow of the U.S. government by force or violence (Smith Act), required members of the Communist Party to register with the government (Internal Security Act), and declared the Communist Party to be part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government (communist Control Act). The occasion was World War II and the Korean War, which, like earlier wars, inspired fears that foreign agents (Nazi and Soviet) were trying to subvert the government. For the latter two laws the policy entrepreneur was Senator Joseph McCarthy, who attracted a great deal of attention with his repeated (and sometimes inaccurate) claims that Soviet agents were working inside the U.S. government.

[Miss.Maggie]

freaks me out. We learned about is in depth in my "History of the Presidency" class in college.

[Aunt Sponge]

Yeah, it's worrisome - it really goes to show that reactive-measures often are taken and they stick around. As far as I understand (no quoting me!) but these acts are all still in effect -though all have been severely curtailed and further defined and regulated.

But all came from knee-jerk reactions and emotions. None, honestly, seem legitimate.

[Miss.Maggie]

You are correct. I am going to have to dig out my notes from that class. (I knew being a nerd pack rat would pay off for something)