Ch. 19 sec 3 #3

How did the war affect government power?

In 1917 Congress passed the Espionage and Sedition Acts which stated that a person could be fined yp to $10,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for interfering with the war effort or for saying anything disloyal, profane, or abusive about the government or the war effort. This new law targeted socialists and labor leaders. The U.S. spent around $35.5 billion on the war effort. One-third of this was raised through taxes. Most of the taxes were on high-income families. The government gave Wilson more power as well. He establish the War Industries Board. This board raised industrial production by 20%, but applied price controls at the wholesale level.