LAD #31: Wilson's 14 Points

     At the conclusion of The Great War Wilson drafted a solution that he hoped would maintain peace and stay true to his campaign "A war to end all wars."  Wilsons goal was to conclude the war in a forgiving and charitable manner.  Thus he came up with the 14 point plan, 14 idealistic approaches which he hoped he could maintain in the postwar world.  Among the most famous of Wilsons 14 points were his call for freedom of the seas, lifting of economic barriers, no secret treaties, a reduction of arms an other military productions, colonies which would be able to self determine their soverenighty, and most importantly the creation of the League of naitons.  This league was intended to serve as a peace keeping organization with representatives from all nations. 


Later on Wilson's fourteen points proved to be rather unsuccessful, as the other Allies found them to be too lenient as they saught to more significantly punish their German foes.  As a result he was forced to compromise practically all of his fourteen points except his most cherished League of Nations.

LAD # 30: SCHENCK v. UNITED STATES

    At the onset of The Great War, an American socialist, Charles Schenck, began to spread posters all aimed at convincing Americans to aviod the draft.  Schenck believed that the draft was a direct violation of the thirteenth amendment, for it demanded "involuntary servitude."  As a result, he was charged for promoting insubordination in the military and violating the espionage act, which declared that it was ilegal to interfere with military efforts, war efforts, or recruitment.  In Cout, Schneck tried to argue that he had the freedom of speech, granted to him in the first amendment of the constitution.  However, the court ruled that in this case he did not have the freedom of speech since it created danger. This revealed the government's intention to expand its power upon the people during wartime.  The decision was later overturned.