Seditious conspiracy statute is enacted during the Civil War, 18 U.S.C. 2384

Congress enacted 18 U.S.C. § 2384, criminalizing conspiracies to overthrow the federal government, seize federal property, or obstruct the execution of law by force, at the height of the Civil War. The statute was infrequently prosecuted for over a century, with notable uses including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case and the 1995 Elohim City-linked Oklahoma City plot. The January 6, 2021 prosecutions of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders marked the most extensive use of the seditious conspiracy charge in American history, and the subsequent DOJ reversal in 2026 reignited debates about when political violence crosses into sedition.