The Pros And Cons Of Civil Rights

Throughout United States History, there have been many situations that have limited civil rights. Some of these actions were the Espionage and Sedition Acts, the Executive Order 9066, and the passage of the USA Patriot Act. These actions were very controversial at the time and caused a lot of commotion between Americans and officials. Some people did not agree with them changing our civil liberties and were upset about it while others were fine with them changing our rights. In 1917, the Espionage Act was passed stating that any statement that could interfere with the success of our country winning the war became illegal. This gave the government the right to control what United States citizens said in public. They also had the power

Government officials agreed with the Espionage and Seditions Acts. The Acts were passed so that people could not say any statements that could interfere with the success of winning the war. People in the United States wanted to win the war, so they were willing to give up some of their rights. In 1918, Charles T. Schenck was convicted because he violated the Espionage Act. The Supreme Court said that “When a nation is at war many things which might be said in time of peace are such a hindrance to its efforts that their utterance will not be endured as long as men fight.” They upheld his conviction and sent him to prison. They believed that citizens’ rights could be changed in time of war. A lot of people in the government also supported the relocation of the Japanese. The government decided to do this because people became fearful of Japanese immigrants among them. According to President Roosevelt another reason they relocated the Japanese was that they wanted protection against espionage and they wanted to act against sabotage. People supported this statement and agreed with the relocation of the

One argument made by Senator Robert M. La Follette was “I think all men recognize that in time of war the citizen must surrender some rights for the common good which he is entitled to enjoy in time of peace. But, sir, the right to control their own Government according to constitutional forms is not one of the rights that the citizens of this country are called upon to surrender in time of war.” He does not agree with taking away the right of free speech. There was a cartoon drawn that states “Swat the Fly but Use Common Sense.” This cartoon shows that we wanted to win the war, but we should not take away the important rights of the citizens. There was a Japanese citizen of the United States named Korematsu. He was born in the United States, but his parents were born in Japan. When the Executive Order 9066 was passed, he was made to give himself up to the military authority. He had done nothing wrong except for having Japanese parents. People were not happy about this because he had not committed a crime or had done anything