What Was The Purpose Of The Espionage Act And The Sedition Act?
What Was The Purpose Of The Espionage Act And The Sedition Act? Fearing that anti-war speeches and street pamphlets would undermine the war effort, President Woodrow Wilson and Congress passed two laws, the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918, that criminalized any “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the U.S.