Revolutionary War: The Alien And Sedition Act

After the American Revolution from 1765-1783, the United States was now out from under the rule of Great Britain. The US was now its own free nation. With this came a lot of new responsibility. The citizens of America were trying to find out their own boundaries and how they would run their own government. It was a lot harder than anticipated to find a balance between freedom and a strong nation. This debate came into play during the second presidency of John Adams. Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798. The Alien and Sedition Acts took a lot of the power away from the people and gave it back to the government. These Acts were highly controversial and after Americans had just fought for their freedoms in the Revolutionary War, they were not willing to give them up under the new government they had just fought for. Thomas Jefferson played a large role in the opposition to these acts with the Kentucky Resolutions. Ultimately, when Jefferson became president in 1801 the enforcement of these Acts ended. Even though John Adams played a vital role in the Revolution, he was more of a controversial figure. Adams
The issue with the Alien and Sedition Acts revolved around the fact that it took away the freedoms that Americans had just gained after the Revolutionary War. Jefferson and Madison brought up valid points in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions that followed. John Adams was infringing on the rights of the American people that were given to them in the Constitution. Loyalty to the government and loyalty to one’s country do not necessarily have to go hand-in-hand. After the Revolutionary War, the United States had a lot of work to do and had to figure out a balance between keeping the country together and staying true to what the country was founded on in the first