1798: The Alien And Sedition Acts

Government censorship continued with the passing of the Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Amendment in 1918. The Espionage Act and Sedition Amendment condemned any antiwar activity or desecrating of the government, Constitution, flag, or military. The American public could not have an opinion, unless that opinion supported the war and government. Even Wilson stated, "Woe be to the man or group of men that seeks to stand in our way." Government censorship and “unpatriotic acts”, as deemed by the Espionage Act and Sedition Amendment, gave birth to a suspicious nation.

Signed into law by President John Adams in 1798, the Alien and Sedition Acts consisted of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress as America prepared for war with France. These acts increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years, authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" and restricted speech critical of the government. These laws were designed to silence and weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. Negative reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts helped contribute to the Democratic-Republican victory in the 1800 elections. Congress repealed the Naturalization Act in 1802, while the other acts were allowed to expire.

The 1780’s and 1790’s were a time of growing contentions in America, and were capped off with the creation of the Alien and Sedition acts. The Alien and Sedition acts included four laws that made it extremely difficult to be an immigrant in the United States. These laws allowed the president to deport any immigrant he deemed dangerous or suspicious, allowed the government to remove immigrants in time of war and also required that any immigrant live in the US for fourteen years before they could be given citizenship. The fourth act infringed on the right to free speech, which is a fundamental right given by the constitution, by prohibiting any conspiracy or “scandalous and malicious” writings against the United States government. The four acts were the government’s response to the growing issues in the America. These issues included the division of the government into political parties, the American people’s growing distrust of foreign nations, and the distrust between people within America.

The Alien Act allowed the president to remove anyone he thought to be dangerous or harmful to the country’s well being from the country. The Sedition Act banned all criticizing of the United States government in any way shape or form. Both acts violate the constitution in multiple ways. The Alien and Sedition Acts were created to filter and clean out the “bad” people from the young and growing country, and to keep the government clean. Innocent people were being removed from the country because he or she was thought to be dangerous. Only one side of the government was being seen. There was no contrast or comparison in our government of the people. When people started to realize that these acts were unconstitutional they began to rebel to protect themselves.

What were the causes of the War of 1812? Was the war justified? During the year of 1812, United States had an attack Britain with For about twenty years, Britain had claimed the right to intercept American ships on the high seas, seize their cargoes, and seek their crews for British navy deserters. During the invasion with France Britain defended these actions as wartime measures; irritated Americans called it outrage of their rights as a neutral and sovereign nation From the American side, the stated reason for the war of 1812 was to defend the United States rights, which had been violated by antagonist during the Napoleonic War. United states had critics about the British harassment of Neutral merchant shipping, investigation and seizure of contraband on American

In 1798, President John Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts containing three parts: the Alien, Sedition, and Naturalization Acts. The Alien Act allowed the president to deport any immigrant that he found dangerous to the nation; the Sedition Act made it a crime to criticize the government; and the Naturalization Act lengthened the citizenship process. These acts were repealed by 1802 due to their negative impacts and influences on society. The Alien and Sedition Acts left an impact on the nation through the deprivation of American rights—such as the first amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of press— leading to protests that rocked the nation. These policies created a gap between the government and the people, destroying

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 permitted the federal government, the President, power over aliens. The Alien Act gave the President power to order or remove aliens from the United States as he wishes before any court has jurisdiction over them. The Sedition Act granted the federal government power over the people who use reckless speech and lie against the government. The result would be imprisonment and a fine. If immigrants violate the United States Government, such as committing treason or destroying United States property, they would be imprisoned or deported out of the country. Many may disagree with this because citizens of the United States receive less punishment. The Alien and Sedition Acts did violate the Constitution.

The Alien Enemies Act "…declared, all male citizens of an enemy nation could be arrested, detained, and deported" (“Alien and Sedition Acts”). Although this act was never used, many French who lived in the U.S. could have been either arrested, detained, or deported. The last act within the Alien Acts is the Alien Friends Act which "…authorized the president to deport any non-citizen suspected of plotting against the government during either wartime or peacetime" (“Alien and Sedition Acts”). All three of these acts affected immigrants who were not U.S. citizens, those who the Republicans wanted to protect. The last act, the Sedition Act, was aimed at the Republicans. "

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions had a major impact at the time they were enacted and were the seeds to the Civil War. The Virginia Resolutions drafted in 1798 by James Madison, and the Kentucky Resolutions drafted by Thomas Jefferson in 1799, were passed by the legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia in reaction to the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. Signed into law by President John Adams, the Alien and Sedition Acts were composed of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress as America prepared for war with France. These laws were passed to weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. “These acts increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to fourteen years, authorized the president to imprison or

The Sedition Act was approved by Congress on July 14, 1798. It differed from the Alien Act; the Alien Act affected all United States citizens and not only the aliens. The Alien Act was also clearer that if a person is being convicted of any crime against the United States. Furthermore, the Sedition Act was designed to protect the Federalist and the President from “false” and “malicious” statements with the power of speaking. It didn’t protect the Vice President Thomas Jefferson or the Republicans. The act stated in Section 1 of the Sedition Act, “to impede the operation of any law of the United States, or to intimidate or prevent any person holding a place or office in or under the government of the United States, from undertaking, performing or executing his trust or duty, and if any person or persons, with intent as aforesaid, shall counsel, advise or attempt to procure any insurrection, riot, unlawful assembly, or combination, whether such conspiracy, threatening, counsel, advice, or attempt shall have

In 1798, John Adams and many other Federalists alongside him help create an idea that changed the way many Americans viewed the U.S. government. Adams and his group of Federalist introduced the Alien and Sedition Acts to Congress during his first term as President. The ideas of these Acts from Adam’s point of view were to be simple; “the first being an Alien Act, which focused on making the United States more secure from alien (foreign) spies and domestic traitors” . Alongside the Alien Act is the Sedition Act, which would make it illegal for anyone to express any false scandals at or against the United States government. Overall, these Acts had a great impact on not only the citizens of the U.S. but also Congress itself. These Acts greatly

The Alien and Sedition acts were passed by a Federalist-dominated Congress. The goal was to protect the Federalist- dominated Congress against treasonous ideas. The act had made it illegal to produce any document that protested or criticized the government showing the hypocrisy in the government. The act had blatantly infringed on the First Amendment making it a crime to speak out against the government. This effectively silenced the opposition.

During this year Thomas Jefferson and James Madison had decided to bring forth resolutions. Arguing that the alien and sedition acts violated the constitution’s first amendment and was therefore unconstitutional and unlawful. The Alien and Sedition acts had been passed with the sight of a war with the French approaching. It was thought that this act that would strictly constrict any punitive harmful speech towards the government and that it would further prevent problems, thus providing internal security. It was by limiting the right of the press to the first amendment that this instantly angered some. The Alien and Sedition acts did however heavily target the press. Also limiting what they could report impairing thus becoming unconstitutional again for impairing their freedom of speech. It was during this time that Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison whom had played a major role in drafting the constitution, came forward with their opinions about the Alien and Sedition acts. James Madison had his draft presented to the Virginia legislature, whereas Thomas Jefferson had his draft presented to Kentucky

Government censorship continued with the passing of the Espionage Act in 1917 and the Sedition Amendment in 1918. The Espionage Act and Sedition Amendment condemned any antiwar activity or desecrating of the government, Constitution, flag, or military. The American public were almost at a point where they could not have an opinion, unless in support of the war and government. Even Wilson stated, "Woe be to the man or group of men that seeks to stand in our way." These acts of censorship gave birth to a suspicious nation.

Alien and Sedition Acts- During the Adams administration, congress passed the Alien and Sedation acts to suppress public criticism of the government and limit the freedom of foreigners in the US. Outcry against these acts helped the republican cause.