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Teaching World War I

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  • Quiz Questions: 31

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World War I was called the Great War until World War II came along...and you don't get a nickname like that for nothing.

In this guide you'll find

  • an activity asking students to create a timeline of the war.
  • lessons analyzing historical documents, like the Sedition Act of 1918.
  • modern resources, like accounts of long-living World War I veterans.

Our teaching guide immerses your class in World War I without putting them on the front lines.

What's Inside Shmoop's History Teaching Guides

Shmoop is a labor of love from folks who love to teach. Our teaching guides will help you supplement in-classroom learning with fun, engaging, and relatable learning materials that bring history to life.

Inside each guide you'll find quizzes, activity ideas, discussion questions, and more—all written by experts and designed to save you time. Here are the deets on what you get with your teaching guide:

  • 3-5 Common Core-aligned activities (including quotation, image, and document analysis) to complete in class with your students, with detailed instructions for you and your students. 
  • Discussion and essay questions for all levels of students.
  • Reading quizzes to be sure students are looking at the material through various lenses.
  • Resources to help make the topic feel more relevant to your 21st-century students.
  • A note from Shmoop's teachers to you, telling you what to expect from teaching the topic and how you can overcome the hurdles.

Want more help teaching Teaching World War I?

Check out all the different parts of our corresponding learning guide.



Instructions for You

Objective: Opposition to World War I in the United States led to the passage of the Sedition Act in 1918 and raised questions about the government's authority to curb speech during wartime. 

In this exercise your students will examine the texts of both the Sedition Act and the First Amendment, then consider whether the two contradict one another. This is a great opportunity for your students to practice close reading since they'll really have to dig into the syntax of both texts in order to draw any conclusions. 

Length of Lesson: One class period.

Materials Needed: 

*Provided below.

Step One: Show your students the text of the First Amendment and then ask them the questions which follow. 

First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

  1. According to the text of the First Amendment, are there categories of speech that are and are not protected? 
  2. Is "freedom of speech" defined in this amendment?
  3. Is, in fact, all speech protected by this amendment?
    • Can you think of any examples of speech that isn't protected by the First Amendment? Come up with as many examples as you can. 

Step Two: Now show students this excerpt from the article "Probing Question: Are there limits to freedom of speech?" in the January 27, 2015 edition of the Penn State News. 

"The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized very few exceptions to the First Amendment," says Robert Richards, founding director of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at Penn State, which was established in 1992 to promote awareness and understanding of the principles of free expression to the scholarly community, the media and the general public.

"The categories of speech that fall outside of its protection are obscenity, child pornography, defamation, incitement to violence and true threats of violence," he explains. "Even in those categories, there are tests that have to be met in order for the speech to be illegal. Beyond that, we are free to speak."

Step Three: Ask your students how they think it was determined that each of the categories mentioned above can, in some instances, fall outside the realm of protected speech. 

  • Psst! The answer, of course, is that various court cases found these types of speech to be unprotected in certain instances. If you have time for a brief digression, have your students check out this listing of court cases dealing with issues of free speech. 

Step Four: Now read through the text of the Sedition Act with your students. As you read, encourage students to note particular passages or phrases that may be at odds with the First Amendment. 

 Sedition Act, 1918

Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements,... or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct... the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or... shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States... or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully... urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production... or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....

Step Five: Ask students to identify the phrases or passages they noted and explain how they may be in conflict with the First Amendment. Encourage them to really parse the words and explain exactly where (and why) the conflicts exist.

Psst! You might also want to let them know that $10,000 in 1918 is equivalent to $160,000 in 2016. That's a hefty fine!

Step Six: Congress repealed the Sedition Act on December 13, 1920 (even though it was upheld by the Supreme Court in Abrams v. United States in 1919). Should they have? Ask your students to go through the text one more time and locate any portions they think might actually make sense. You can use the following questions to guide this discussion.

  1. Which parts of the Sedition Act don't seem completely unreasonable? 
    • Should someone be punished, for example, for inciting mutiny? Why or why not?
    • What about someone who supports the cause of a country with which the U.S. is at war?
      • Does it matter if that support is "in word" or "in act"? Why or why not?
  2. Which parts of the Sedition Act are the most oppressive? Why?

Instructions for Your Students

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech...most of the time. As Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote, the First Amendment "would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic."

For the record, it's also unwise to shout "Doughnuts!" outside a Krispy Kreme when the doughnuts are still in the oven—though we doubt the government would step in on that one.

But what happens to free speech during times of war? Does the government's authority to curb anti-government speech increase when our nation's security is at risk? And just how far can a protester go in condemning the military effort? At some point, does criticism become sedition?

Today you'll take a close look at both the First Amendment and the Sedition Act of 1918 and decide: does the Sedition Act violate the First Amendment, or can these two texts co-exist peacefully?

Step One: Take a look at the text of the First Amendment and discuss the questions that follow with your teacher and classmates. 

First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

  1. According to the text of the First Amendment, are there categories of speech that are and are not protected? 
  2. Is "freedom of speech" defined in this amendment?
  3. Is, in fact, all speech protected by this amendment?
    • Can you think of any examples of speech that isn't protected by the First Amendment? Come up with as many examples as you can. 

Step Two: Now read this excerpt from the article "Probing Question: Are there limits to freedom of speech?" in the January 27, 2015 edition of the Penn State News. 

"The U.S. Supreme Court has recognized very few exceptions to the First Amendment," says Robert Richards, founding director of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at Penn State, which was established in 1992 to promote awareness and understanding of the principles of free expression to the scholarly community, the media and the general public.

"The categories of speech that fall outside of its protection are obscenity, child pornography, defamation, incitement to violence and true threats of violence," he explains. "Even in those categories, there are tests that have to be met in order for the speech to be illegal. Beyond that, we are free to speak."

Step Three: Okay, so clearly there are categories of speech that aren't protected by the First Amendment. So riddle us this: 

  • How do you think these categories were determined? 
  • And according to the excerpt, are these categories of speech always beyond the protection of the First Amendment? Explain your answer. 

Psst! If you have time for a brief digression, check out this listing of court cases dealing with issues of free speech. Lots of them deal with speech in school settings. 

Step Four: Now read through the text of the Sedition Act with your teacher and classmates. As you read, note particular passages or phrases that may be at odds with the First Amendment. 

 Sedition Act, 1918

Whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully make or convey false reports or false statements with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the military or naval forces of the United States, or to promote the success of its enemies, or shall willfully make or convey false reports, or false statements,... or incite insubordination, disloyalty, mutiny, or refusal of duty, in the military or naval forces of the United States, or shall willfully obstruct... the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, or... shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the Constitution of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States... or shall willfully display the flag of any foreign enemy, or shall willfully... urge, incite, or advocate any curtailment of production... or advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any of the acts or things in this section enumerated and whoever shall by word or act support or favor the cause of any country with which the United States is at war or by word or act oppose the cause of the United States therein, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $10,000 or imprisonment for not more than twenty years, or both....

Step Five: Go ahead and point out the phrases or passages you noted to the rest of the class and explain how these passages may be in conflict with the First Amendment. Do your best to parse the words and explain exactly where (and why) the conflicts exist.

Psst! You might also be interested to know that $10,000 in 1918 is equivalent to $160,000 in 2016. Now that's a hefty fine!

Step Six: Congress repealed the Sedition Act on December 13, 1920 (even though it was upheld by the Supreme Court in Abrams v. United States in 1919). Here's our question for you: Should they have? Go through the text one more time and locate any portions you think might actually make sense. 

Discuss any portions you located with the rest of your class. You can use the following questions to guide your discussion.

  1. Which parts of the Sedition Act don't seem completely unreasonable? 
    • Should someone be punished, for example, for inciting mutiny? Why or why not?
    • What about someone who supports the cause of a country with which the U.S. is at war?
      • Does it matter if that support is "in word" or "in act"? Why or why not?
  2. Which parts of the Sedition Act are the most oppressive? Why?