“Wake up America! Your Liberties are in Danger!”, 1919

The Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, quoted above, embodies this sacred idea. The Socialist Party says that this idea is violated by the Conscription Act. When you conscript a man and compel him to go abroad to fight against his will, you violate the most sacred right of personal liberty, and substitute for it what Daniel Webster called “despotism in its worst form.”

“Wake up America! Your Liberties are in Danger!” 1919

This circular was introduced as evidence in Schenck v. United States. Charles Schenck was a prominent socialist who was convicted under the Espionage Act for encouraging men to resist the draft. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote the unanimous opinion stating that Schenk’s actions constituted “clear and present danger”.

National Archives, Records of the Supreme Court of the United States