Today is Saturday, May 16, 2020.

On this day in 1918, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Sedition Act of 1918, making it

illegal for United States citizens to publicly criticize the government or

country's involvement in World War I.

Anyone who dared to speak up would be thrown in jail. Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original. Today we're discussing the passage of the Sedition Act during World War I, what it meant for the war,

how these criminal charges affected the citizens, and its lasting effect.

Let's go back to that morning, May 16, 1918, in Washington, D.C. DC.

It was a busy day in the Oval Office.

It was a busy day in the Oval Office.

President Woodrow Wilson listened closely to the daily update about the Oval

listened closely to the daily update about the war in Europe

from his trusted advisor Colonel Edward House.

It was a tense time for the world.

The war could turn either way and It was a tense time for the world.

The war could turn either way, and they knew the Germans were preparing for a do or die

spring offensive that could determine the outcome of the war.

Thanks to their spies, Wilson and the other Allied leaders knew about this plan

and anxiously awaited its start.

He needed to ensure his country was prepared for the fighting or for

the inevitability of deploying more men overseas. Because of this, he was

patiently waiting for important legislation slated to come across his desk later in the day.

This new amendment, adding to a law passed just a year before, crucial to the United States success during the war.

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