U.S. Wartime Censorship Trivia Quiz

Answer: A Tory newspaper

James Rivington started a newspaper, "The New York Gazetteer," which defended King George and denounced the independence movement. His work was tolerated in the early 1770s, but once the shooting war started, the anger against him erupted into violence, including the destruction of his typefaces and press. He left for England shortly afterward.

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

In Proclamation 94, issued early in the Civil War, Lincoln called it "a necessary measure for suppressing the same, all rebels and insurgents, their aiders and abettors, within the United States, and all persons discouraging volunteer enlistments, resisting militia draft or guilty of any disloyal practice affording aid and comfort to rebels against the authority of the United States."

Answer: The Spirit of '76

Released in 1917, during World War I, Robert Goldstein's movie about the American Revolution made the British look bad, for obvious reasons. Goldstein was sentenced to federal prison. No surviving copies of the movie are known to exist.
The other films all dealt with war but didn't suffer the same consequences.

Answer: German language

After World War I started, several states banned teaching the German language in schools. The 1918 "Better American Speech Week" strongly discouraged the use of any language other than English.

Answer: Opposing the military draft

Charles T. Schenck mailed flyers urging people to sign petitions and speak out against the World War I military draft. He was sentenced to prison, and the Supreme Court upheld his conviction. Similar activity was widespread during the Vietnam War, but no one was successfully prosecuted for it.

Answer: Eugene V. Debs

Debs was convicted under the Sedition Act and sentenced to ten years in prison. He ran in the 1920 presidential election while in prison and came in third in spite of having no public appearances. When Warren Harding was elected president, he had Debs released.
The other choices were also candidates in the 1920 election.

Answer: Loose lips sink ships

It was feared that any kind of information might help enemy spies, so a poster campaign urged Americans to be careful whom they talked to and what they said. An early version was "Loose lips might sink ships."

Answer: A tornado outbreak

During World War II, a series of tornadoes touched the ground in the area of Berclair, Mississippi. For several hours, the radio stations weren't allowed to report it, delaying emergency responses, because weather information might aid hypothetical enemy bombers.

Answer: Flag burning

In "Texas v. Johnson" (1989), the Supreme Court ruled that burning a U.S. flag as a form of protest is "symbolic speech" protected by the First Amendment. The ruling struck down a Texas law that selectively prohibited the burning of "venerated objects" depending on the viewpoint being expressed. The Court didn't grant protection to draft card burning.

Answer: Giving access only to assigned pools

There was little overt censorship of coverage of the Gulf War, aside from the normal restrictions on military secrets and ongoing actions, but journalists outside of government-assigned pools had little access to war areas. Fewer than 100 US reporters were allowed to talk with military people in the field. Some reporters were detained for their activity.