1918 Sedition Act is not about Patriotism, it’s about Being Silenced
By Walden Wright
May 16, 2025 | Do What MATAs
On this day in 1918, Congress passed a law that made it a federal crime to speak out against the United States government, the Constitution, or the military during wartime. That law was called the Sedition Act of 1918, and it came with a promise: we will protect you, so long as you do not question us.
More than a century later, the language has changed—but the instinct remains.
This week, as I read the voices of my colleagues and watched the silence grow louder in classrooms, courtrooms, and campaign ads, I realized something: we are living through a new sedition season. One not written in federal statute, but enforced through cultural fear, disinformation, and carefully manufactured distraction.
And once again, power fears the truth.
The 1918 Sedition Act: Patriotism by Muzzle
To understand this moment, we have to go back.
The Sedition Act was passed during World War I as an extension of the Espionage Act of 1917, which was already criminalizing “interference with military operations.” The Sedition Act took it further—punishing anyone who used “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the U.S. government, flag, or armed forces.
It wasn’t about national security. It was about narrative control.
Thousands of Americans were arrested—many for handing out anti-war leaflets, organizing labor strikes, or, in the case of Eugene V. Debs, delivering a speech that criticized the draft. Debs was sentenced to ten years in prison. His crime? Quoting the Declaration of Independence.
You can read more about that case here via the First Amendment Encyclopedia and this breakdown from the National Constitution Center.
The Sedition Act was eventually repealed in 1920—but its shadow lingered, reappearing in various forms over the decades. And this week, its ghost felt closer than ever.
This Week’s Echoes of Suppression
At Do What MATAs, we don’t just reflect—we record.
We document the cracks forming in real time.
And this week, they showed up everywhere.
Let’s trace the map.
Monday: Joe Bob’s Bullshit-O-Meter Goes Off the Charts
Joe Bob Justice came in hot with “They’re Not ‘Woke Lies’—They’re Receipts.”
His rant wasn’t just about censorship. It was about the lie of free speech in states that criminalize teachers, restrict reading lists, and treat honesty like a threat.
He wrote:
“If your whole worldview falls apart when a kid reads about slavery or queerness or climate change, maybe the problem ain’t the books—it’s the bullshit you were fed.”
This wasn’t performative patriotism. It was a field report from the front lines of rural classrooms and red-state gaslighting.
Tuesday: Grifting of America, Part 3 – A Jet Called Silence
Joe Bob stayed on the mic with Air Grift One Is Not a Bribe, Part 3 of his ongoing corruption exposé.
The target this time? A $3.9 billion “non-bribe” in the form of a luxury MAGA military jet contract.
Paid for with your tax dollars.
Sanitized with slogans.
Shielded by distraction.
This isn’t just greed—it’s strategy. While working Americans are busy surviving, the grifters are pilfering under the flag.
Joe Bob’s metaphor said it best:
“It’s like if someone stole your truck, used your credit to put spinning rims on it, then told you God wanted it that way.”
Wednesday: The Women Refuse the Gag Order
In Porch Talk Grit #9: We Will Not Be Silent, Liberty Lane and Daisy Justice pushed back against the culture of coerced quiet.
The post was a cross-generational duet: a mother and niece, both furious, both holy, both done pretending silence is virtuous.
They wrote of teachers—especially women—who are being censored, surveilled, and spiritually taxed for daring to show the full American story.
Their line still lingers:
“They want us soft, silent, and scared. But we were raised by mothers who stayed. And we’re done being sweet about it.”
Thursday: Quin Draws the Blueprint in Ink
Quin Halliwell’s Book Banning Blueprint: How Eleven Groups Are Rewriting Truth was not just a blog post—it was a map.
He laid out how eleven well-funded and politically connected groups are coordinating a national disinformation effort through school boards, lawsuits, and social media psyops.
The link to the Sedition Act? It’s the same impulse:
Control the narrative.
Muzzle the memory.
Punish the witnesses.
Quin’s work included data, receipts, and one quiet but powerful observation:
“This is not chaos. It’s design.”
You can read more about the groups referenced via PEN America’s 2024 report on book banning networks.
Friday: Joe Bob Closes the Circle with Duct Tape and Fire
Today, Joe Bob dropped “Patriotism Ain’t Silence, It’s Sacrifice.”
He marks the Sedition Act’s anniversary not with a lecture—but with a photo of himself duct-taped and defiant.
His message?
“They jailed Debs for using his voice. These days, they just ban the books and bully the teachers. But it’s the same damn thing.”
“You want to honor the troops? Then quit trying to muzzle the folks they died defending.”
What Ties It Together
If there’s a thread through this week’s fire, it’s this:
Speech is survival.
Memory is resistance.
And silence, when chosen by power, is not peace—it’s control.
We are not in 1918.
But we are in a moment where the sedition instinct has returned:
Through censorship masquerading as morality.
Through corruption hiding behind camouflage.
Through fear, dressed up as discipline.
And once again, it is dissent—raw, principled, public dissent—that reminds us we’re still alive.
The Sedition Season Isn’t Coming—It’s Here
They won’t need to pass a new Sedition Act.
Because now, they’ve convinced millions of Americans to self-censor, self-monitor, and self-betray.
We see it every day:
The teacher afraid to say “slavery.”
The librarian quietly removing queer books from display.
The veteran who won’t talk about war because he knows what kind of comments will follow.
But let me say this clearly:
You are not disloyal for telling the truth.
You are not radical for remembering.
And you are not alone.
So This Weekend: Speak Deliberately. Stand Firm. Remember Loudly.
If you need to be quiet, let it be because you are listening—not because you were told to hush.
If you need to pause, let it be to breathe—not to disappear.
But when the moment comes—and it always does—open your mouth, open your memory, and speak the kind of truth they’re still trying to erase.
Because the Sedition Act was repealed.
But the story it tried to kill?
We are still writing it.
Sources for further reading: