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Conflict & Compromise in History
Postal Connections > Stories > Espionage Act of June 15, 1917
 
Espionage Act of June 15, 1917
NHD Categories:

Wartime Conflict and Compromise
Political Conflict and Compromise
Individual Values and Social Conflicts
Time frame: 1919-1921

During World War I, the Postmaster General was granted power to refuse delivery of any mail deemed “a willful obstruction to the progress of the war” by the Espionage Act of 1917.  Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson interpreted this power very liberally and censored domestic mail critical of the war---especially mail-delivered newspapers. Criticism of Burleson was strong.  Learn of the compromises that were necessary when individual privacy rights and freedom of dissent conflicted with the perceived “good of the whole.”  

Getting Started:
 

Articles:
Johnson, Donald “Wilson, Burleson, and Censorship in the First World War”, The Journal of Southern History, Vo. 28, No. 1. (Feb., 1962), pp. 46-58.

Hopkin, Deian “Domestic Censorship in the First World War” Journal of Contemporary History,   Vol. 5, No. 4. (1970), pp. 151-169.
 
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