(The word syndicalism reflects the French “syndicat” or trade union and refers to a doctrine of direct action by the working class to seize control of the economy and abolish the capitalist state). Like the federal war acts, the state laws sought to silence dissenters, punish agitators, and destroy radical organizations. More than two-thirds of the states, especially in the West, adopted Criminal Syndicalism Acts to counter the radicalism that had staked a foothold in their jurisdictions. When the federal government scaled back its anti-radical campaign at the end of the war, the states stepped up with their own initiatives.
ESPIONAGE AND SEDITION ACTS SIGNIFICANCE FREE
The Justice Department, in turn, enforced the wartime acts and harassed, deported, and jailed not only foreign radicals but anyone who dissented against the war, the government, and the “American way of life.” Rights to free speech and free assembly were shoved aside. The Woodrow Wilson administration had so effectively inflamed Americans with a fear of dissent, radical politics, and dissidents in the country, that many citizens-along with city and state leaders-favored even more vigorous and punitive measures after the war ended.įederal legislators had adopted the Espionage and Sedition Acts to rid the country of foreign agents and to silence dissidents during the war years. Lurking in the war’s wake, however, was lingering anxiety about threats from within the nation’s borders. They filled Portland’s downtown streets-and Main Streets across the state-with rousing cheers that the carnage of the war had ended.
Oregonians were light-headed from days of celebrating the end of World War I in November 1918.
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