The Red Scare Part 2

The Second Half of the Red Scare

Sedition Act of 1918 and Espionage Act of 1917


 In class we discussed the second half of the Red Scare and two acts which we discussed in detail during the class. 

The Sedition Act of 1918 forbid the use of disloyal, profane,and abusive language about the United States government while the Espionage act of 1917  and it prohibited the interference of military operations or recruitment.

During the second half of the red scare, congress was very drastic with it's measures and congress instead were restricting freedoms because they believed it would serve the greater good.

An example given in class about this was as follows.

People who walk at night around the quad have been getting robbed and instead of stopping the crime, the university decides to punish the people instead of punishing the crime itself.

It became easier to round up sedition actors then it was to round up the National Guard. and there were those people who wanted to take the sedition act even further and become more specific on what they could and could not do.

Senator of Tennessee stated, "If we cannot reason with men to be loyal, it is high time we forced them to be loyal."

There were only a few people who benefited from the Red Scare such as politicians and even psychologists since psychology was in it's infancy during this time.

 There was however an original Sedition Act which was passed in 1776 right after the American Revolution.

In this case, the newly formed country had every right to pass such an act due to the fact that America was a brand new country at the time. There was much fear that a new revolution would soon take hold in America because we just come out of the Revolutionary War.

There was massive immigration during this time as well and in a twisted sense it created unity within the nation. People were coming together during this time and trying to eradicate the red menace.

Shockingly enough, the House approve the Sedition Act of 1918 in a staggering vote of 293 to 1 but then again 1918 was a reelection year as well.

The Espionage Act of 1917 conflicted with the first amendment and it attempted to deny freedom of speech and freedom of the press.


Another thing was there was no really strong political view or person during this time compared to years prior like in 1798 with men like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.

 There was no one to really take a stand against the two acts, one of which is still in place to this very day and that would be the Espionage Act of 1917.


I feel like Congress proved their point to the country itself and then killed the Red Scare out, that's why it ended so quickly. There was just so many events which lead up to the destruction of the first Red Scare and the killing of the Sedition Act of 1918.

I believe that Congress used the acts to instill fear and control over the country before deciding enough was enough and killing off one of the Acts. It was a way for Congress to stay in power and for Congress to show America and the world who exactly was in control at that particular time.