This work provides an authoritative survey of America's long and turbulent history of
rebellion, sedition, and treason against government authority and
institutions.
Crimes against the State is an even-handed and illuminating one-stop resource for understanding acts of rebellion and sedition against government authorities and institutions throughout US history, as well as the motivations driving those actions. Special care is taken to differentiate between hostile acts and actors that seek to overthrow or otherwise damage the state and/or targeted demographic groups through violence
and acts and actors that seek to defy, reform, or improve laws and institutions of the state through nonviolent action.
Within these pages, readers will 1) learn how to differentiate between sedition, insurrection, treason, domestic terrorism, espionage, and other acts meant to injure or overthrow the government; 2) gain a deeper understanding of laws, policies, and events that have aroused violent or nonviolent opposition; 3) gain insights into perspectives and motivations of individuals and organizations; and 4) learn about state responses to these challenges and threats, from martial law to criminal prosecutions to new laws and reforms.
I. Acknowledgements II. Timeline/Chronology III. Introduction IV. Entries A-Z (as follows): Abel, Rudolph Abrams v. United States (1919) Aid and Comfort Clause (Aid to Enemies of the State) Al-Arian, United States v. Alien & Sedition Acts Alien Act Alien Enemies Act American Civil War – Pardons and Amnesty American Civil War and Treason American Revolution and Treason Ames, Aldrich Anarchy, criminal Anthrax Attacks, 2001 Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (1996) Arnold, Benedict Assassination Axis Sally (Gillars, Mildred) Bacon’s Rebellion Battle of Athens, Tennessee (1946) Battle of Liberty Place, New Orleans (1874) Booth, John Wilkes Boston Marathon Bombing (2013) Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) Brown, John Bundy Standoffs Burr, Aaron & Treason (Burr Conspiracy) Burr, United States v. Capitol Insurrection, January 6, 2021 Carlisle, United States v. (1872) Chin, Larry Wu-Tai Christiana Revolt (1851) Civil Disobedience and Crimes against the State Civil Rights Movement and Crimes against the State Clear and Present Danger Test Colfax Massacre (1873) Communist Control Act (1954) Conspiracy (Crime) Cook, John Copeland, John Coppoc, Edwin Corruption of Blood (concept contained in U.S. Constitution Treason Clause) Cramer v. United States (1945) Crimes Act of 1790 Criminal Syndicalism Cruikshank, United States v. (1876) Cybersecurity Davis, Jefferson, treason prosecution De Jonge v. Oregon (1937) Debs v. United States (1919) Dennis v. United States (1951) Disqualification Clause Dorr Rebellion (1844) Enforcement Acts, including the Ku Klux Klan Act (1870-71) English Statute of Treasons (1351) Espionage Act of 1917 and Sedition Act of 1918 Espionage, generally Eufaula Election Massacre and Spring Hill Riot (1874) Ex Parte Bollman & Swarthout (1807) Ex Parte Milligan (1866) Ex Parte Quirin (1942) Ex Parte Vallandigham (1864) First Red Scare and the Palmer Raids Flag Disrespect as Crime Against the State Fries’s Rebellion (1799) Fuchs, Klaus Fuerza Armadas de Liberacion Nacional (FALN) Gabriel’s Rebellion (1800) Gadahn, Adam Gitlow v. New York (1925) Greathouse, United States v. (1863) Green Corn Rebellion (1917) Green, Shields Greenwood, NY Insurrection (1882) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) Hanssen, Robert Hanway, United States v. Hasan, Nidal Malik Haupt v. United States Haymarket Affair of 1886 Hess v. Indiana (1973) Hirabayashi v. United States (1943) Hiss, Alger Homeland Security Act 2002 Hoxie v. United States (1808) Insurrection Act Insurrection, generally Intelligence Identities Protection Act Internal Security Act of 1950 Jefferson, Thomas John Brown’s Raid Kaczynski, Theodore (Unabomber Case) Kawakita, United States v. (1952) Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1966) Korematsu v. United States (1944) Leaks of National Defense Information Levying War Lincoln Assassination Lindh, John Walker, the “American Taliban” Luther v. Borden (1849) Martial Law Material Support Crimes McKinley Assassination Militia Movement (Modern) Mitchell, United States v. (1795) Monti, United States v. (1958) Mumford, William Bruce Mutiny Near v. Minnesota (1931) Nelson, Pennsylvania v. (1956) New York Times v. United States (1971) New York v. Lynch (NY 1814) O’Brien, United States v. (1968) Oklahoma City Bombing Padilla, United States v. (incl. Rumsfeld v. Padilla (2004) and Padilla v. Hanft (2006)) Pelton, Ronald William Pentagon Papers Perjury, False Statements, and Obstruction of Justice Pollard, Jonathan Posse Comitatus Act Pottawatomie Creek Massacre, 1856 Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolt Radio Traitors and Anti-State Propaganda During World War Two Rahman, United States v. (1999) Rebellion Riots and Incitement to Riot Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel Ruby Ridge Rudolph, Eric Sabotage Sacco & Vanzetti case (Massachusetts 1921) Salazer, Hipolito Schenck v. United States (1919) Second Red Scare (McCarthyism) Sedition Act of 1798 Sedition Laws, generally Seditious Conspiracy September 11, 2001 Shay’s Rebellion Smith Act Sovereign Citizen Movement Speech as Crime Against the State Stevens, Aaron Surratt, Mary Terrorism Texas v. White (1869) The Prize Cases Threats against the State and Officials Tokyo Rose (D’Aquino, Iva) Treason Turner, Nat United States v. United States District Court (1972) USA PATRIOT Act Vesey Rebellion (1822) Vesey, Denmark Virginia v. Brown (1859) Waco Walker, John Anthony, Jr. War of 1812 and Treason Weapons of Mass Destruction, domestic use of Weather Underground (Weathermen) West Virginia Coal Wars Whiskey Rebellion Whitney v. California (1927) Wilmington Insurrection of 1898 Wolverine Watchmen, Plot to Kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer World Trade Center Bombing of 1993 Yates v. United States (1956) Year of the Spy Zenger, John Peter (1735 Trial for Sedition)
James Beckman, JD, LLM, is Professor of Legal Studies at the University of Central Florida, USA Eric Merriam, JD, LLM, is Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida, USA, where he is appointed jointly to the legal studies department and the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs.
