How were civil liberties challenged in the 1920s and during World War I? How did the people respond?

During World War I and the 1920s, civil liberties were challenged. It is not unusual during times of war that the government restricts the civil liberties of its citizens. During World War I, the Sedition Act was passed. This made it illegal to publically criticize the government, the president, or the war effort. The Espionage Act punished any anti-war activity. German-Americans faced discrimination. Schools stopped teaching German, and German foods like hamburger and sauerkraut were renamed Salisbury steak and liberty cabbage. In 1919, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Schenck v the United States that free speech can be limited if the use of words presents a danger.

There are additional examples of the challenging of civil liberties after World War I. People were worried that the communists were trying to take over our country. The FBI was created to investigate groups that were deemed as radical. The Palmer raids led to the deportation of some immigrants and foreigners even though those raids violated the civil liberties of these people as the raids occurred without search warrants. Often, the deportation orders came without hard evidence suggesting the immigrants or foreigners should be deported.

Many Americans supported these actions. They believed our country was in danger of a communist takeover. They joined groups like the Ku Klux Klan that terrorized African-Americans and other minority and religious groups. They supported the passage of immigration laws such as the Emergency Quota Act and the National Origins Act that restricted immigration to our group, especially immigration from South and East Europe. There was a fear in the minds of many Americans that our country was in danger because of the presence of immigrants and foreigners.