Causes Of 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.

In the year of 1800, Jefferson ran for the second time averse to former president, John Adams but unlike the previous election, John Adams wins the presidency, Jefferson was able to defeat John Adams. The Adams lost the election due to passing the Alien and Sedition Acts, Considered unconstitutional laws because the Acts took away the first amendment, freedom of speech. Jefferson was a more promising choice as he promised to have a “Republican Revolution”, Jefferson promised to help the yeoman farmer and decrease the Federal debt the United States had at the time period. Jefferson’s presidency was to a certain extent a “Republican Revolution” and to a certain extent it was a Federalist Continuation.

Federalists wanted a strong Federal government, however the Democratic Republicans opposed it. The original members of the Democratic Republicans said that, “People would only be safe if ordinary people were in government.” They believed that the people would know what's right and they would make a lot of good decisions. The Federalists however wanted the government to be powerful. Hamilton wrote, “The people are turbulent and changing; they seldom judge or determine right.” He is right because our founding fathers agreed that if the people were angels there would be no need for a government , guess what we are not angels so we will make mistakes. To help make the people make better decisions Hamilton believed they needed a government above them. The Democratic Republicans also wanted the states to have more power and not the Government, as you can imagine there were more disagreements.

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.

First, when the political parties emerged in the 1790’s it was evident that their ideologies were vastly different. The Republican Party wanted a representative form of government that functioned “in the interest of the people.” This party, led by Thomas Jefferson, supported a limited central government, with individual states retaining a majority of the control. Jefferson’s vision was for a nation of farmers, and farmers do not need big government to survive. They feared a large central government would take away the rights of the people. On the other hand, the Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, supported a strong central government that would pursue policies in support of economic growth, which in turn would provide the freedom the people wanted. Hamilton’s followers also supported a diverse economy.1 It is important to note here however, that both parties knew they would have to become national parties in order to win any elections and both parties had followers in the north and in the south. There was no sectional divide in the parties.

Congressman John Allen of Connecticut supports the Alien and Sedition Acts by saying out all of the nation's we are the nation that needs the acts because the government will give and protect our rights as long as we follow the rules that have been made. This document was written for all of the people who thought the alien Sedition Acts were too powerful they did not understand that the Alien and Sedition Acts were holding this country together by creating a solid government. On the other hand Thomas Jefferson secretly wrote a note in December of 1798 he explained that the Acts were too powerful for the national government and was not appropriate for Congress to control. After the unitary government in Britain the country wanted to have a weaker federal government so they were scared to give the government that power of the Alien and Sedition

On July 14, 1798, John Adams, putting them into effect, signed The Alien and Sedition

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.

The Americans have known the "Bribery" that the XYZ agents have brought, and they reacted to the XYZ with a shock and anger. Realized that President Adams was too weak politically and could not suited for the President job; The Republican newspaper heaped abuse on Adams as " a person without patriotism, without philosophy, and a mock monarch". With the temper so dangerously high and fears that political dissent was perhaps akin to treason, the Federalist leader moved to muffle the opposition. In mid 1798, Congress hammered out the Sedition Act; the Sedition Act made conspiracy and revolt are illegal, however, the Sedition Act also prohibited the right to speak or writing anything that defamed the president or Congress which is considered the citizen as

One of the biggest conflicts was the Virginia plan vs. the New Jersey plan. Once it was

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

During the years of Alexander Hamilton, many events occurred that divided Republicans and Federalists. The Republicans disagreed with a national bank because they believed that it would lessen their power and cause them to lose grip on the power they had. Along with the national bank come the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts had to do with immigration and slander against the Federalists, but Republicans come out against these acts stating Congress went above their powers. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions argued against the Alien and Sedition Acts.

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

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.