WHY IT MATTERED
During the course of World War I, the federal govern-
ment brought approximately 2,000 prosecutions for
violations of the Espionage Act of 1917 or the Sedition
Act of 1918, the same laws under which it convicted
Schenck, Debs, and Frohwerk.
By the fall of 1919, however, Holmes had changed
his mind. The case of Abrams v. United States concerned
leaflets that criticized President Wilson’s “capitalistic”
government for sending troops to put down the
Russian Revolution. Justice Holmes, joined by Justice
Louis Brandeis, dissented from the majority of the
Court, which upheld the conviction. In his dissent,
Holmes emphasized the importance of a free exchange
of ideas so that truth will win out in the intellectual
marketplace. His reasoning won him acclaim as a pro-
tector of free speech.
The belief that truth will eventually win out in the
marketplace of ideas has become important legal justi-
fication for promoting freedom of speech.
HISTORICAL IMPACT
Disagreements about what kinds of speech are “free”
under the First Amendment continue. During the 1950s,
when people were jailed for supporting Communism,
and during the Vietnam War, when war protestors sup-
ported draft resistance, these issues again reached the
Supreme Court.
The Court has also been asked to decide if young
people in schools have the same First Amendment
rights as adults. In Tinker v. Des Moines School District
(1969), the Court ordered a school to readmit students
who had been suspended for wearing black arm bands
in protest of the war in Vietnam.
This so-called symbolic speech, such as wearing an
armband or burning a draft card or a flag to express an
opinion, has sparked heated debate. In Texas v. Johnson
(1989), the Court, by a narrow five to four vote, inval-
idated a law under which a man who burned an
American flag to protest Reagan administration poli-
cies had been convicted. The decision so outraged
some people that members of
Congress considered amending
the Constitution to prohibit any
“physical desecration” of the flag.
The amendment did not pass. Our
freedoms of expression continue
to depend upon the words in the
first article of the Bill of Rights,
written more than 200 years ago.
The First World War 603
THINKING CRITICALLY
THINKING CRITICALLY
CONNECT TO HISTORY
1. Analyzing Primary Sources
Read Justice Holmes’s
dissent in Abrams v. United States. Compare it with the
opinion he wrote in Schenck v. United States. Explain the
major difference or similarity in the two opinions.
SEE SKILLBUILDER HANDBOOK, PAGE R22.
CONNECT TO TODAY
2.
Visit the links for Historic Decisions of the Supreme
Court to research articles about free speech issues.
Select several of these issues—such as whether hate
groups have a right to march—to discuss with other
students in your class. Choose one issue and, as a
group, write down as many arguments as you can on both
sides of the issue. Then present a debate to the class.
IINTERNET ACTIVITY
CLASSZONE.COM
In 1965 Mary
Beth Tinker and
her brother,
John, were
suspended from
school for
wearing
armbands that
symbolically
criticized the
Vietnam War.
▼
Eugene Debs was arrested for antiwar speeches like the one he
gave at this 1916 presidential campaign stop.
▼
