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Alien and Sedition Acts (view source)
Revision as of 16:50, November 14, 2009
, 16:50, November 14, 2009Added info on results
The Sedition of Act of 1798 made illegal to criticize the government of the United States under penalty of fines and/or imprisonment. In an early instance of the acts usage, Luther Bladwin, a [[New Jersey]] citizen, was convected for and fined $100 for wishing that a wad from a presidential saluting-cannon hit Adams.
The Sedition of Act of 1798 made illegal to criticize the government of the United States under penalty of fines and/or imprisonment. In an early instance of the acts usage, Luther Bladwin, a [[New Jersey]] citizen, was convected for and fined $100 for wishing that a wad from a presidential saluting-cannon hit Adams.
[[Thomas Jefferson]], and his friend [[James Madison]], secretly authored two resolutions which declared the Alien and Sedition Acts [[unconstitutional]], because individual states "have the right and are duty bound to interpose for arresting of the evil." The [[resolution]] passed through the [[Virginia]] and [[Kentucky]] legislatures and became the first instance of individual states "nullification" of a "unauthorized acts". <ref name="pj" /> The
[[Thomas Jefferson]], and his friend [[James Madison]], secretly authored two resolutions which declared the Alien and Sedition Acts [[unconstitutional]], because they exercised a "power not delegated by the constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by [[First Amendment|one of the amendments thereto]]"<ref>[http://www.constitution.org/rf/vr_1798.htm Full text of the Virginia Resolutions]</ref>. Further, they stated, individual states "have the right and are duty bound to interpose for arresting of the evil." The [[resolution]] passed through the [[Virginia]] and [[Kentucky]] legislatures and became the first instance of individual states "nullification" of a "unauthorized acts". <ref name="pj" /> The
attempt at nullification later inspired the secession of the Confederate states in 1861.
attempt at nullification later inspired the secession of the Confederate states in 1861.
Because this was before the [[Supreme Court]] established [[judicial review]] in [[Marbury v. Madison]], it did not declare the laws unconstitutional at the time. However, in [[New York Times v. Sullivan]] (1964), it declared in passing that "the invalidity of the Act has also been assumed by Justices of this Court."<ref name="NYT">[http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0376_0254_ZO.html Full opinion, ''New York Times v. Sullivan'']</ref>
The Sedition Act automatically expired on March 3rd, 1801, so it did not outlast the Adams administration. Upon taking office, Thomas Jefferson pardoned everyone convicted under it:
{{quotebox|I discharged every person under punishment or prosecution under the sedition law because I considered, and now consider, that law to be a nullity, as absolute and as palpable as if Congress had ordered us to fall down and worship a golden image.<ref name="NYT"/>}}
==References==
==References==
*[http://www.constitution.org/rf/sedition_1798.htm Text of the Sedition Act]
*[http://www.constitution.org/rf/kr_1798.htm Text of the Kentucky Resolutions]
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[[Category: Early National U.S.]]
[[Category: Early National U.S.]]
[[Category:First Amendment]]
[[Category:First Amendment]]