‘Tyrannous Measures’: Legislating Speech, Food, and Rails in First World War America

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ABSTRACT In April 1917, as Congress debated the new Espionage Act, the New York Times called it a ‘tyrannous measure’. Such sentiments echoed the concerns of many Americans who questioned whether the U.S. legislature should grant exceptional powers to the Wilson administration now that America was at war with Germany. However, this article argues that the various checks and balances in the American constitution, as well as the attitudes adopted and actions taken by individuals inside and outside the corridors of power, served to prevent the emergence of a fully-fledged state of exception during the period of American belligerence. It does so first by focusing on congressional legislation in the spheres of censorship, food, and railways, and second by examining the relevance of ‘voluntarism’ and citizens’ initiatives from below.