The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that is dedicated to defending the Bill of Rights, which consists of the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
The ACLU was officially established on January 19, 1920. It began as an effort to defend the right of those who were opposed to World War I to protest and make use of their rights under the first amendment. The government took a hard line against any criticism of the war and resistance to the draft. Those who opposed the war saw their speeches and writings against the war suppressed and a concern about civil liberties, particularly freedom of speech, became paramount. The ACLU also protested the actions of attorney general Palmer who deported aliens for their beliefs in the years immediately following WWI.
In response to this threat against civil liberties, Crystal Eastman and Roger Baldwin organized the Civil Liberties Bureau. From this organization evolved the ACLU with Roger Baldwin serving as director of the ACLU for 30 years.
Sources: In Defense of American Liberties, A History of the ACLU by Samuel Walker, Oxford University Press 1990
