A SHIFTING PATTERN OF INTERPETATION:
In the 1910s and 20s, the United States found itself in a period of transition, owing this largely to its involvement in World War I. The mobilization of the American community to fight a war overseas was a radical process, and new issues necessarily emerged that would challenge the role of the government and the extent to which public policy may curtail the activities of the individual. At the crux of this new debate was the First Amendment. During these decades this amendment would experience a bout of growing pains as its domain over public life expanded. The Supreme Court was at the heart of this process, interpreting the First Amendment in different ways as the nation traversed in and out of war. The First Amendment would see a rise to prominence by the end of the 20s; the umbrella of free speech, free press, and free assembly having swollen in scope to shelter the rights of Americans more completely than ever before (442,511-518).
The 1910s were dominated by the emergence of the First World War. In the United States at this time, the onset of conflict in Europe induced the government to tighten its reigns on the citizenry; for, "certain restrictions on freedom of speech and of the press were recognized by military and governmental officials as essential, both because of military necessity and because of the requirements of public morale"(pp. 511). Therefore, though the wartime status of each of the first nine amendments was a bit confused, it was the First Amendment that would ultimately cause the most difficulty (510-11).
At this time, very little constitutional law pertained to civil liberties, and the states held a broad discretionary authority in most cases (511). But, by 1917 the conflict between the Bill of Rights and military necessity had come to a head; U.S. commitment to World War I caused Congress to enact two statutes which would impose certain limitations upo...