LAD #31: President Wilson's 14 Points

President Wilson's 14 points outlined his beliefs of peace after the war, in this speech to Congress he proposed his ideas.
1) There should be no private meetings and all diplomacy should be peaceful and public.
2) Totally free navigation of the seas, there should be no difference in times of war and peace.
3) Trade should be equal between all nations agreeing to peace.
4) Nations should reduce their armories as low as possible, and used for domestic safety only.
5) Colonial claims should be unbiased, with the nation in mind.
6) All armies should be removed from Russia and allow it to develop in its own way.
7) Belgium should return to the independence it had before the war.
8) France will be completely free and retain control of Alsace-Lorraine.
9) Italians will continue to live in Italy and the borders will be based on nationality.
10) The people of Austria-Hungary will continue to develop in their own way.
11) Rumania, Serbia, Montenegro and other Balkan States will be free and establish their boundaries based on nationality, and they will work on their development.
12) The Turkish government will govern only Turkish people, and the other nationalities that were under Turkish rule, will become independent.
13) Poland will be independent with access to the sea.
14) The League of Nations will guarantee the freedoms and independence of all states in it.

LAD #30- Schenck vs. US

In March of 1919, an American socialist, Charles Schenck faced the Supreme Court because of the government's suppression of rights, he wanted to peacefully resist the Conscription Act. Schenck was a radical, working during the war to get men to "draft dodge" and this hindrance of recruitment caused him to be charged with a violation of the Espionage Act. Progressives believed the draft was unconstitutional because the thirteenth amendment outlawed involuntary servitude. The government issued the Espionage Act during the war, and like the Sedition Act passed by Great Britain, suppressed the freedom of speech. The Act was an excuse to imprison socialists who posed a threat to the war and the government. Schenck made an appeal to the Supreme Court and in it his argument was that the Espionage Act was unconstitutional, violating his First Amendment rights. Justice Oliver Holmes articulated that when free speech presents a "clear and apparent danger", especially during war time. Schenck's anti war writings had presented a danger to the U.S. war effort and attempted to get people to be military insubordinates. The government was afraid. They were in a war and they thought Schenck's actions could cause disobedience so they unanimously voted against him. Therefore it was ruled free speech can be limited in wartime.