Eugene V. Debs was a labor rights leader and four time Socialist Party presidential candidate. In 1912 he managed to win 6% of the presidential vote, but ran against the U.S. government by expressing his disdain with WWI. On June 16, 1918 he delivered the above speech to roughly 1,200 people in Canton, Ohio. The anti-war speech came just as American soldiers were fighting battles in Europe, and was seen as potentially treasonous by federal prosecutors. Debs' was not the only person arrested under the Espionage Law of 1917, but his case eventually made it to the supreme court - where the court upheld his arrest ruling that expressing sympathy for those who resisted the draft made Debs guilty of the same offense.

The purpose of this activity is for students to analyze a time in which free speech was scrutinized in favor of national security during wartime. Students will listen to the recording of the Debs' speech and understand the historical context of how free speech was viewed during this time period. Students will also consider both sides of this debate and use evidence to support the claim that Debs' arrest either was or wasn't justifiable during WWI.

Question 1: I would expect students who have listened to the speech to answer, D - to protest the impact of war on the working class. Debs' alludes to the upper-class as declaring both war and peace, while the working class have never had a hand in either.

Question 2: I would expect most students to answer that Debs' was guilty of insubordination, disloyalty and attempting to obstruct recruitment. this answer can be found in the newspaper article above.

Question 3: Asks students to take in both previous answers to analyze whether it was justifiable to imprison Debs' based on his speech in the context of a war. I would expect students to take into consideration both the national security interest of the U.S. government and the freedom of speech to determine their point of view. Regardless of which stance they take, I would like them to attempt to justify their opinion by forming an argument.