What Is The Controversy Of The Alien And Sedition Acts

Controversy of the Alien and sedition acts

In 1796, the federalist, John Adams, was elected as the second president of the United States. At this time the french revolution had been going on for seven bloody years. the federalist party was antipathetic toward the revolution but the ever popular democratic republican party continued, as they always did, to espouse it. America under George Washington had professed neutrality in the French Revolution but the French disregarded this and attacked American commerce ships. In an attempt to reduce tensions between the two countries, Adams sent three commissioners to France in 1794 to negotiate the issues before they developed into war. The American commissioners were unable to meet with Marquis de
The Alien Act raised the residency requirement for citizens from five to fourteen years, gave the president the authority to deport individuals whom he considered a threat to the United States, and provided for the deportation or imprisonment of any individual in time of declared war. The Sedition Act stated that speaking, writing, or publishing criticism of the government were at the very least misdemeanors and possibly treasonous. The federalists saw foreigners as a threat to security during the Quasi Naval War. “The man who...shall be the apologist of France, and (who attacks) his own government, is not an American. The choice for him lies between being deemed a fool, a madman, or a traitor,” (ALEXANDER FUCKING HAMILTON MOTHERFUCKER (on a side note i do not agree with his statement but i still think his musical fucking
THis is what made the Alien and Sedition Acts so controversial and so unconstitutional to the Democratic-Republicans. The Democratic-Republicans saw these acts as an obvious violation of the first amendment. “Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” (Amendment 1). The Democratic-Republicans did not share many ideas with the Federalists and many Democratic-Republicans wrote about their antifederalist views in the newspapers. The Alien and Sedition Acts threatened to imprison them as traitors if they voiced their opinion. Twenty-five men who were editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers were arrested. One of these men was the grandson of Benjamin Franklin. His arrest was very unpopular among other