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in 1863, booth was arrested in st. louis while on a theatre tour, when he was heard saying he “wished the President and the whole damned government would go to hell”. he was arrested for making a treasonous statement, and had to take an oath to the union, and pay a substantial fine. is there something i am missing? people make such treasonous statements all the time these days. people talk about how we followed our constitution more closely back then but based on this, we have way more of a right to freedom of speech these days. count your blessings
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did john wilkes booth get arrested for speaking against the government?
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Reply by Carboniferous
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The United States has a messy record when it comes to freedom of speech. Even back during its infancy, bills like the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 restricted freedom of speech and usually targeted one group (in this case, Democratic-Republicans).
It is well known Lincoln suppressed freedom of speech during the Civil War. For example, the Union arrested newspaper publishers who were sympathetic to the Confederacy. The Lincoln administration also censored telegraph lines. You could not say anything positive about the Confederacy, since you risked getting arrested.
The question is whether or not these evils were necessary. Reporters could leak important military movements, for example, Confederate general William Hardee found that General Sherman's supply ships were gathered in North Carolina. This ruined Sherman's strategy, leading to heavy losses on the Union side.
But yeah, people can get away with a lot more nonsense nowadays.
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