Question

How did the U.S. government attempt to silence opposition to the war?

Answer 1

It passed both the Espionage Act and Sedition Act.

Answer 2

The correct answer is It passed both the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

These laws, passed during World War I, tried to stop Americans from interfering with the governments effort to raise support for the war effort. For example, the Espionage Act (passed in 1917) made it illegal for any person in the US to interfer with the military draft. Anyone found in violation of this law could be arrested and serve jail time.

The Sedition Acts made it illegal to criticize the government during a time of war. This clearly violated the first amendment right of freedom of speech, which is what many citizens argued when it was passed by the federal government.