What did the Sedition Act do?

A.

increased the requirements for becoming a US citizen

B.

established required courts across the United States

C.

punished people for publishing criticism of the government

D.

encouraged citizens to voice their opinion of the government

The 1918 Sedition Act punished people for publishing criticism of the government (C).

Sedition means to resist or to incite other people to resist an authority's laws.

In the context of the First World War, the U. S. government needed the people to support the war effort and the armed forces. The Sedition Act was passed under President Woodrow Wilson as a measure to prevent anti-war activists and other groups from criticizing the government's decisions in wartime, so that dissent would not spread within the public opinion.