USA HISTORY

AMERICAN IMPERIALISM(1890 1919)

THE UNITED STATES IN WORLD WAR I

[SOURCES]
This controversial Supreme Court case determined that the government CAN limit our speech in a time of war.

(A) ** Schenck v. U.S.

(B) Chaplinksy v. N.H.

(C) Tinker v. DesMoines

(D) Cohen v. California

EXPLANATIONS BELOW

Concept note-1: -United States, legal case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on March 3, 1919, that the freedom of speech protection afforded in the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment could be restricted if the words spoken or printed represented to society a “clear and present danger .”

Concept note-2: -The Court ruled in Schenck v. United States (1919) that speech creating a “clear and present danger” is not protected under the First Amendment. This decision shows how the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First Amendment sometimes sacrifices individual freedoms in order to preserve social order.

Concept note-3: -United States (1919) In the landmark Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919), the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Charles Schenck and Elizabeth Baer for violating the Espionage Act of 1917 through actions that obstructed the “recruiting or enlistment service” during World War I.

Concept note-4: -What was Schenck’s major argument? Any law, such as the Espionage Act, that prevents opposition to the draft by peaceful means is a violation of the First Amendment freedom of speech and press.