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Document 3
… Congress passed, and Wilson signed, in June of 1917, the Espionage Act. From its title one
would suppose it was an act against spying. However, it had a clause that provided penalties up
to twenty years in prison for “Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall wilfully cause or
attempt to cause insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty in the military or naval
forces of the United States, or shall wilfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the
U.S.…” Unless one had a theory about the nature of governments, it was not clear how the
Espionage Act would be used. It even had a clause that said “nothing in this section shall be
construed to limit or restrict…any discussion, comment, or criticism of the acts or policies of the
Government.…” But its double-talk concealed a singleness of purpose. The Espionage Act was
used to imprison Americans who spoke or wrote against the war.…
Source: Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States: 1492–Present, HarperCollins, 2003
According to Howard Zinn, how did the Espionage Act affect civil liberty in the United States?
According to Howard Zinn, the Espionage Act affected civil liberty in the United States in the sense that it imprisoned Americans who spoke against the war in any way.
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