A HISTORY
OF REPRESSIVE LEGISLATION
The passage of the Patriot
Act occurred 45 days after September 11th, and less than 2 years later Patriot Act II is now in the
works. As shocking as these two bills
are, a look at our history reveals a pattern of repressive legisltion.
The Alien and Sedition Act
of 1789 was one of the earliest comprehensive attacks on free speech and the
rights of immigrants in times of supposed crisis.
World War I offers a
striking precedent to current fear campaigns and attacks on civil
liberties. The war was initially
unpopular with the American people, but one million soldiers were needed. Only 73,000 enlisted, and the draft soon
followed. Repressive acts poured forth
from Congress as follows:
·
The Espionage Act of June,
1917
·
Trading with the Enemy Act,
October 1917
·
The Sabotage Act of April,
1918
·
The Sedition Act of May,
1918 (see reverse)
At the same time, a massive
propaganda campaign was launched. A
prominent newsman founded a Committee on Public Information. It sponsored 75,000 speakers who gave
750,000 four-minute speeches in 5,000 cities and towns. The Wilson Justice Department sponsored an
organization known as the American Protection League with a membership of
250,000 volunteers. One historian
wrote, "These patriots watched their neighbors, ostrasizing, insulting or
reporting those deemed insufficiently ardent in their support of
war." German music was banned and
sauerkraut became "liberty cabbage."
World War I provided an
early model for anti-immigrant and racist practices in World War II and other
periods of repression in the 20th century.
Unlike World War I which was called "the war to end all wars,"
we now have what is being called "an unending and permanent war on
terrorism," with the prospect of an "unending" erosion of civil
liberties and freedom of speech.
Sources:
A People's History of the
United States, by Howard Zinn
An American History, by Merle Curtis
American History--A Survey, by T. Harry Williams
Civil Liberties Committee
San Francisco Gray Panthers
10-20-03