Have a question? Need assistance? Use our online form to ask a librarian for help. Signed into law by President John Adams in , 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 elections.
Congress repealed the Naturalization Act in , while the other acts were allowed to expire. Fears of an imminent French invasion led the Adams administration to begin war preparations and pass a new land tax to pay for them. With fears of enemy spies infiltrating American society, the Federalist majority in Congress passed four new laws in June and July , collectively known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. With the Naturalization Act, Congress increased residency requirements for U.
Many recent immigrants and new citizens favored the Republicans. The Alien Enemies Act permitted the government to arrest and deport all male citizens of an enemy nation in the event of war, while the Alien Friends Act allowed the president to deport any non-citizen suspected of plotting against the government, even in peacetime.
Most importantly, Congress passed the Sedition Act, which took direct aim at those who spoke out against Adams or the Federalist-dominated government.
The Republican minority in Congress complained that the Sedition Act violated the First Amendment to the Constitution , which protected freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Adams signed the Sedition Act into law on July 14, It was set to expire on March 3, , the last day of his term in office. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were passed by the legislatures of their respective states in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts.
Both argued that the federal government did not have the authority to enact laws not specified in the constitution. Matthew Lyon, a Republican congressman from Vermont , became the first person tried under the new law in October Lyon acted as his own attorney, and defended himself by claiming the Sedition Act was unconstitutional, and that he had not intended to damage the government. Lyon won reelection while sitting in jail, and would later defeat a Federalist attempt to kick him out of the House.
Another individual famously prosecuted under the Sedition Act was the Republican-friendly journalist James Callender. After Jefferson won, Callender demanded a government post in return for his service. All told, between and , U. The prosecutions fueled furious debate over the meaning of a free press and the rights that should be afforded to political opposition parties in the United States.
By , all of the Alien and Sedition Acts had been repealed or expired, save for the Alien Enemies Act, which has stayed on the books. Jeffersonian-Republicans believed Federalists were monarchists and had to be stopped, whereas Federalists believed Republicans were anarchists and had to be stopped. In the poisonous partisanship of the s, political opponents were to be defeated at virtually any cost.
Already the union was deeply divided politically. Which of the following correctly summarizes the views of Federalists and Jeffersonian-Republicans on the Naturalization Act ? The Alien Friends Act , set to remain in effect for two years, violated the due process clause of the. To write, print, utter or publish, or cause it to be done, or assist in it, any false, scandalous, and malicious writing against the government of the United States, or either House of Congress, or the President, with intent to defame, or bring either into contempt or disrepute, or to excite against either the hatred of the people of the United States, or to stir up sedition, or to excite unlawful combinations against the government, or to resist it, or to aid or encourage hostile designs of foreign nations.
Jeffersonian-Republicans considered the sentiments expressed in the excerpt to be a violation of. The Alien and Sedition Acts. Kentucky Resolution. Virginia Resolution. Responses to the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
Berkin, Carol. New York: Basic, Halperin, Terri Diane. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, Miller, John C. Boston: Little, Brown, Slack, Charles. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, Smith, James Morton. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, Stone, Geoffrey R.
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