Letter Writing and Legal Consciousness during World War I.

This article examines how ordinary Americans understood and engaged with the law during World War I by analyzing 119 letters sent to Congress concerning the refusal to seat Victor L. Berger, a Socialist congressman convicted under the Espionage Act of 1917. Despite deep ideological divisions, both supporters and opponents of Berger mobilized under the shared master frame of "Americanism," though they expressed strikingly different legal consciousness—supporters viewed law as an entitlement protecting democratic rights, while opponents saw it as a privilege to be withheld from perceived disloyal outsiders. The study highlights that during this unsettled period marked by the first Red Scare and heightened political violence, letter writers eschewed violence and withdrawal, instead using legal discourse and peaceful political engagement as their primary means of protest. This case illustrates how law functioned as a potent cultural tool in times of social upheaval, facilitating political mobilization and dialogue even among polarized groups.