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U.S History Subject Test
137
ARCO
■ SAT II Subject Tests
w w w . p e t e r s o n s . c o m / a r c o
solve the nation’s racial problems and used the power of the federal government to enforce civil rights only
when it could not be avoided.
12. The correct answer is (A). In Schenck v. United States, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the
conviction of a man who had counselled resistance to the draft—a crime under the Espionage Act.
Obviously, the man’s act was speech. And the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States specifically states: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech . . . .”
Didn’t Congress violate the man’s constitutional right of free speech by making his speech (counsel-
ling resistance) a crime? According to the Supreme Court, it did not. Justice Holmes explained that
the “character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.” He then provided the
famous analogy you see above. In other words, freedom of speech is not an absolute right but must
yield when the government has a compelling interest, or in Holmes’ view, when the government can
show that the speech poses a clear and present danger.
13. The correct answer is (B). American foreign policy between the two world wars can be described
as near isolationism. The disillusionment that followed the First World War and the urge toward
disarmament created an atmosphere in which involvement in another foreign war seemed to be incon-
ceivable to Americans. After the defeat of the League of Nations, the United States all but washed its
hands of Europe and the Far East, though we did continue to play a role in the politics of the Western
Hemisphere. This mentality persisted for two decades. Even as hostilities were escalating in Europe,
Roosevelt was promising to keep the United States out of the war. As things got worse in Europe, and
Britain stood alone, public opinion came to favor providing “all aid short of war.” In March 1941,
Congress passed the Lend-Lease Act, which authorized the President to sell, exchange, or lease any
“defense article” to any anti-Axis nation in return for “payment in kind or property, or any other
direct or indirect benefit which the President deems satisfactory.” Thus, the United States would be
the arsenal to supply armaments to the allies without actually committing itself to war.