After US entry into the "Great War," great emphasis was placed on ensuring unanimous support for the war, aka"100% Americanism." How and why did this emphasis turn into suppression of ideas and people, and what were the Constitutional ramifications? Is suppression of free speech and civil liberties in general ever justified?

During World War I, the federal government wanted to ensure complete loyalty to the American cause. In order to do this, they took measures to limit the rights of American citizens. One of the most significant laws passed during this time was the Espionage and Sedition Acts. Th Espionage Act made it illegal to interfere with the US military draft. The Sedition Act made it illegal to interfere with the sale of war bonds are to discuss anything deemed "disloyal" against the American war effort. The Sedition Act was very vague and open to interpretation, which allowed the US government to use it in a way that arrested thousands of anti-war protesters all of the US.

These acts greatly violated the first amendment right of freedom of speech. During this time, the government felt it was necessary to suppress rights in order to have success in World War I. However, many of the arrests made during this period were of people who made no legitimate threat to the government. Rather, they expressed why they did not want the US to be involved with the war.