The Espionage Act of 1917 was amended by Congress the following year with the Sedition Act. The Sedition Act targeted not only those who interfered with the draft, but also those individuals who publicly criticized the government, including negative comments about the flag, the military, or the Constitution.

The revised law provided in part:

SECTION 3. Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements, ... or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct ... the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or ... shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States ... or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully ... urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production ... or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or both....

United States, Statutes at Large, Washington, D.C., 1918, Vol. XL, p. 553 and following.

More than 2,000 prosecutions occurred under the original and amended Espionage Act, the most famous of which was that of Socialist spokesman and draft opponent, Eugene V. Debs, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Both the Espionage Act and the Sedition Act were repealed in 1921.

Palmer Raids:

The first in a series of so-called “Palmer Raids” was launched on November 7, 1919, the second anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia. Thousands of anarchists and communists were rounded up, many of whom were detained for long periods without being formally charged. In December, in a highly publicized move, more than 200 alien detainees were deported to Finland and later to Russia. Placed aboard the ship, the Buford, dubbed the “Soviet Ark,” were such prominent leftists as Emma Goldman, the Russian-born anarchist, who had drawn disapproval by opposing the draft and promoting birth control.

Despite finding no credible evidence that a communist plot was underway, President Wilson appointed Attorney General, Mitchell Palmer and staged more raids in January 1920. With the assistance of local law enforcement officials throughout the country, as many as 6,000 suspects were arrested and detained.

Palmer claimed to know that May 1, the socialist Labor Day, would bring massive demonstrations as a prelude to revolution. The American public was apprehensive as the date approached, but the predictions proved to be without foundation and Palmer’s standing declined rapidly. He was criticized sharply for conducting searches without warrants and for denying detainees legal representation. Most damning were the charges of some who believed that Palmer had manufactured the crisis as a means to gain the Democratic presidential nomination in 1920.

The events of 1919-1920 were the first of a series of “red scares” in U.S. history in which the government would clamp down on real or imagined domestic revolutionaries

Sources: Sedition Act of 1918; The Red Scare