Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798) were four separate acts passed by the Federalist Party controlled U.S. Congress during John Adams administration as America prepared for a possible war with France. [1] The four measures limited freedom of the press and speech and restricted the activities of aliens, particularly French and Irish revolutionaries. The the acts were in response to the Quasi-War with France.[2][3] The acts were an extremely divisive issue between Federalist and Jefferson's Republican Party.
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". [2] The attempt at nullification later inspired the secession of the Confederate states in 1861.
References
- â http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alien.html
- â 2.0 2.1 Paul Johnson, A History of the American People, page. 240
- â XYZ Affair. Law Library - American Law and Legal Information. Retrieved on 2007-01-13.