Thread: Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798

Alien and Sedition Acts
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Text of the act.The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the United States Congress—who were waging an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War—and signed into law by President John Adams. Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the United States from alien citizens of enemy powers and to stop seditious attacks from weakening the government. The Democratic-Republicans, like later historians, attacked them as being both unconstitutional and designed to stifle criticism of the administration, and as infringing on the right of the states to act in these areas. They became a major political issue in the elections of 1798 and 1800. One act — the Alien Enemies Act — is still in force in 2008, and has frequently been enforced in wartime. The others expired or were repealed by 1802. Thomas Jefferson held them all to be unconstitutional and void, then pardoned and ordered the release of all who had been convicted of violating them.



Acts
There were actually four separate laws making up what is commonly referred to as the "Alien and Post Sedition Acts"

The Naturalization Act (officially An Act to Establish a Uniform Rule of Naturalization) extended the duration of residence required for aliens to become citizens to 14 years. Enacted June 18, 1798, with no expiration date, it was repealed in 1802.
The Alien Friends Act (officially An Act Concerning Aliens) authorized the president to deport any resident alien considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States." These acts were created in fear of French sympathizers.[citation needed] At the time, war was considered likely between the U.S. and France.[citation needed] Enacted June 25, 1798, with a two year expiration date.
The Alien Enemies Act (officially An Act Respecting Alien Enemies) authorized the president to apprehend and deport resident aliens if their home countries were at war with the United States. Enacted July 6, 1798, with no expiration date, it remains in effect today as 50 U.S.C. § 21-24.
The Sedition Act (officially An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States) made it a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government or its officials. Enacted July 14, 1798, with an expiration date of March 3, 1801.

[edit] Constitutionality
While Jefferson did denounce the Sedition Act as invalid and a violation of the First Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights, which protected the right of free speech, his main argument on the unconstitutionality of the act was that it violated the Tenth Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Jefferson more strongly argued the Federal Government had overstepped its bounds in the Alien and Sedition Acts by attempting to exercise undelegated powers. Apart from Virginia and Kentucky, the other state legislatures (all of them Federalist), rejected Jefferson's position by resolutions that either supported the acts, or denied that Virginia and Kentucky could denounce it.[1]

The judicial redress for unconstitutional legislation under the doctrine of judicial review was not established until Marbury v. Madison in 1803. The Supreme Court in 1798 was composed entirely of Federalists, all appointed by Washington. Many of them, particularly Associate Justice Samuel Chase, were openly hostile to the Federalists' opponents. The Alien and Sedition Acts were not appealed to the Supreme Court for review, although individual Supreme Court Justices, sitting in circuit, heard many of the cases prosecuting opponents of the Federalists.

In order to address the constitutionality of the measures, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sought to unseat the Federalists, appealing to the people to remedy the constitutional violation, and drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which called on the states to nullify the federal legislation. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions reflect the Compact Theory, which states that the United States are made up of a voluntary union of States that agree to cede some of their authority in order to join the union, but that the states do not, ultimately, surrender their sovereign rights. Therefore, under the Compact Theory, states can determine if the federal government has violated its agreements, including the Constitution, and nullify such violations or even withdraw from the Union. Variations of this theory were also argued at the Hartford Convention at the time of the War of 1812, and by the Southern states just before the American Civil War.

The Sedition Act was set to expire in 1801, coinciding with the end of the Adams administration. While this prevented its constitutionality from being directly decided by the Supreme Court, subsequent mentions of the Sedition Act in Supreme Court opinions have assumed that it would be ruled unconstitutional if ever tested in court. For example, in the seminal free speech case of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the Court declared, "Although the Sedition Act was never tested in this Court, the attack upon its validity has carried the day in the court of history." 376 U.S. 254, 276 (1964).


[edit] Elections of 1800
Main article: United States presidential election, 1800
Although the Federalists hoped the Act would muffle the opposition, many Democratic-Republicans still "wrote, printed, uttered and published" their criticisms of the Federalists. Indeed, they strongly criticized the act itself, and used it as one of the largest election issues. It also had enormous implications on the Federalist party after that point, and ended up being a major contributing factor of its demise. The act expired when the term of President Adams ended in 1801.

Ultimately the Acts backfired against the Federalists; while they prepared lists of aliens for deportation, many aliens fled the country during the debate over the Alien and Sedition Acts, and Adams never signed a deportation order. Twenty-five people, primarily prominent newspaper editors but also Congressman Matthew Lyon, were arrested. Of them, eleven were tried (one died while awaiting trial), and ten were convicted of sedition, often in trials before openly partisan Federalist judges. Federalists at all levels, however, were turned out of power, and, over the following years, Congress repeatedly apologized for, or voted recompense to victims of, the enforcement of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Thomas Jefferson, who won the 1800 election, pardoned all of those that were convicted for crimes under the Alien Enemies Act and the Sedition Act.


[edit] Full cites
An Act to Establish an Uniform Rule of Naturalization (Naturalization Act of 179, June 18, 1798 ch. 54, 1 Stat. 566
An Act Concerning Aliens, June 25, 1798 ch. 58, 1 Stat. 570
An Act Respecting Alien Enemies, July 6, 1798 ch. 66, 1 Stat. 577
An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes against the United States (Sedition Act), July 14, 1798 ch. 74, 1 Stat. 5

[edit] See also
Alien Act of 1705 in England
Alien Registration Act of 1940
Sedition Act of 1918
Logan Act
HR 1955

[edit] Bibliography
Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism (1995), the standard scholarly history of the 1790s.
Miller, John Chester. Crisis in Freedom: The Alien and Sedition Acts (1951)
Rehnquist, William H. Grand Inquests: The historic Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson (1994); Chase was impeached and acquitted for his conduct of a trial under the Sedition act.
Rosenfeld, Richard N. American Aurora: A Democratic-Republican Returns: The Suppressed History of Our Nation's Beginnings and the Heroic Newspaper That Tried to Report It (1997), clippings from a Republican newspaper
Smith, James Morton. Freedom's Fetters: The Alien and Sedition Laws and American Civil Liberties (1967).
Stone, Geoffrey R.Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from The Sedition Act of 1798 to The War on Terrorism (2004).
Alan Taylor, "The Alien and Sedition Acts" in Julian E. Zelizer, ed. The American Congress (2004) pp. 63–76
Wright, Barry. "Migration, Radicalism, and State Security: Legislative Initiatives in the Canada's and the United States c. 1794–1804" in Studies in American Political Development, Volume 16, Issue 1, April 2002, pp. 48–60

[edit] Primary sources
Randolph, J.W. The Virginia Report of 1799–1800, Touching the Alien and Sedition Laws; together with the Virginia Resolutions of December 21, 1798, the Debate and Proceedings thereon in the House of Delegates of Virginia, and several other documents illustrative of the report and resolutions,.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION
Bill of Rights in Action 19:4

The Alien and Sedition Acts: Defining American Freedom

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 challenged the Bill of Rights, but ultimately led to a new American definition of freedom of speech and the press.

When John Adams succeeded George Washington as president in 1797, the Federalist Party had controlled Congress and the rest of the national government from the beginning of the new nation. Adams and the other Federalists believed that their political party was the government. The Federalists believed that once the people had elected their political leaders, no one should publicly criticize them.

The Federalist Party, led by Alexander Hamilton, aimed to create a stable and secure country, safe for business and wealthy men of property. The opposition Democratic-Republican Party was bitterly opposed to the Federalists. Led by Thomas Jefferson, it tended to represent poor farmers, craftsmen, and recent immigrants. (The party was commonly referred as the Republicans or Jeffersonians. It was the forerunner of today's Democratic Party.)

In foreign affairs, the Federalists detested the French Revolution of 1789 because it led to mob rule and confiscation of property. The Republicans supported the French Revolution for its democratic ideals.

In 1794, President Washington negotiated a treaty with England to settle outstanding differences between the two countries. The resulting improvement in American-English relations angered the revolutionary French leaders, who were enemies of the English.

In the election of 1796, Federalist John Adams won the most electoral votes to become president. Republican Thomas Jefferson came in second, which made him vice-president. (The 12th Amendment later changed this election method, requiring separate electoral ballots for president and vice-president.)

Shortly after becoming president, Adams sent diplomats to France to smooth over the bad feelings. But three French representatives—dubbed X, Y, and Z—met secretly with the U.S. diplomats and demanded $10 million in bribes to the French government to begin negotiations. When the Americans refused, Mr. X threatened the United States with the "power and violence of France."

News of the "XYZ Affair" enraged most Americans. Many Federalists immediately called for war against France. President Adams, however, only proposed war preparations and a land tax to pay for them. On the defensive, Republicans spoke out against the "war fever."

Neither the United States nor France ever declared war. But the Federalists increasingly accused Jefferson and the Republicans of being a traitorous "French Party." A leading Federalist newspaper proclaimed to the nation, "He that is not for us, is against us."

The Alien Acts

Rumors of a French invasion and enemy spies frightened many Americans. President Adams warned that foreign influence within the United States was dangerous and must be "exterminated."

The Federalist majority in Congress quickly passed four laws in 1798 to make the United States more secure from alien (foreign) spies and domestic traitors. Most of these laws, however, were also intended to weaken Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party.

The first law, the Naturalization Act, extended the time immigrants had to live in the United States to become citizens from five to 14 years. Since most immigrants favored the Republicans, delaying their citizenship would slow the growth of Jefferson's party.

The Alien Enemies Act provided that once war had been declared, all male citizens of an enemy nation could be arrested, detained, and deported. If war had broken out, this act could have expelled many of the estimated 25,000 French citizens then living in the United States. But the country did not go to war, and the law was never used.

The Alien Friends Act authorized the president to deport any non-citizen suspected of plotting against the government during either wartime or peacetime. This law could have resulted in the mass expulsion of new immigrants. The act was limited to two years, but no alien was ever deported under it.

The fourth law was the Sedition Act. Its provisions seemed directly aimed at those who spoke out against the Federalists.

The Sedition Act

In general, sedition means inciting others to resist or rebel against lawful authority. In England, "seditious libel" prohibited virtually any criticism of the king or his officials. English common law held that any spoken or written words that found fault with the king's government undermined the respect of the people for his authority.

The U.S. Sedition Act first outlawed conspiracies "to oppose any measure or measures of the government." Going further, the act made it illegal for anyone to express "any false, scandalous and malicious writing" against Congress or the president. Significantly, the act did not specifically protect the vice-president who, of course, was Jefferson. Additional language punished any spoken or published words that had "bad intent" to "defame" the government or to cause the "hatred" of the people toward it.

These definitions of sedition were more specific than those found in English common law. Even so, they were still broad enough to punish anyone who criticized the federal government, its laws, or its elected leaders.

Unlike English common law, the Sedition Act allowed "the truth of the matter" to be a defense. The act also left it to the jury to decide if a defendant had "bad intent." Penalties for different provisions of the law ranged from six months to five years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 (more than $100,000 in today's dollars).

The Republican minority in Congress argued that sedition laws violated the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects freedom of speech and the press. The Federalists countered by defining these freedoms in the narrow English manner. According to English law, free speech and press only applied before the expression of ideas. The government could not censor or stop someone from expressing ideas. But after the words had been spoken or printed, the government could punish people if they had maliciously defamed the king or his government.

The Federalist majority in Congress passed the Sedition Act and President Adams signed it into law on July 14, 1798. It was set to expire on March 3, 1801, the last day of the first and—as it turned out—only presidential term of John Adams.

The Attack on the Republicans

Secretary of State Timothy Pickering was in charge of enforcing the Alien and Sedition Acts. He immediately began to read as many Republican newspapers as he could, looking for evidence of sedition against President Adams and Congress.

In October 1798, a Vermont Republican congressman, Matthew Lyon, became the first person to be put on trial under the Sedition Act. Like most Republicans, Lyon opposed going to war against France and objected to the land tax to pay for war preparations.

Lyon wrote a letter published in a Republican newspaper, criticizing President Adams for "a continued grasp for power." He also read aloud at several public meetings a letter written by poet Joel Barlow who jokingly wondered why Congress had not ordered Adams to a madhouse.

A federal grand jury indicted Lyon for intentionally stirring up hatred against President Adams. Unable to find a defense attorney for his trial, Lyon defended himself. The U.S. marshal, a Federalist appointee, assembled a jury from Vermont towns that were Federalist strongholds.

Lyon attempted to prove the truth of the words he wrote and spoke, as permitted by the Sedition Act. This meant that the burden of proof was on him. Lyon had to prove the words in question were true rather than the prosecutor having to prove them false. Lyon also argued that he was only expressing his political opinions, which should not be subject to the truth test.

The jury found Lyon guilty of expressing seditious words with "bad intent." The judge, also a Federalist, sentenced him to four months in jail, a $1,000 fine, and court costs.

Lyon ran for re-election to Congress from his jail cell and won. Vermont supporters petitioned President Adams to release and pardon him, but Adams refused.

When Lyon was released from jail, he was welcomed as a hero in his Vermont hometown. He was cheered along the route he took when he journeyed to Congress. Once Lyon returned to Congress, the Federalists tried to expel him as a convicted criminal, but this effort failed.

Thirteen more indictments were brought under the Sedition Act, mostly against editors and publishers of Republican newspapers. While some Republican newspapers were forced to close down, many others were intimidated not to criticize the government.

One Republican was convicted of sedition for publishing a pro-Jefferson campaign pamphlet that accused President Adams of appointing corrupt judges and ambassadors. Two men were found guilty of raising a "liberty pole" and putting a sign on it that said, "downfall to the Tyrants of America." Another was arrested, but never tried, for circulating a petition to repeal the Alien and Sedition Acts themselves. A drunk was fined $150 for insulting President Adams.

In the most bizarre case, the Federalists in the U.S. Senate formed a special committee to investigate a Republican editor, William Duane. Republicans had leaked to him a Federalist proposal to change how presidential electoral votes were counted. Duane had printed the law and written editorials denouncing it. When summoned to the Senate to face charges of writing "false, scandalous, defamatory, and malicious assertions," he went into hiding and secretly continued writing for his newspaper.

A New Definition of Free Speech and Press

The Alien and Sedition Acts provoked a debate between Republican and Federalist state legislatures over freedom of speech and the press. In a resolution he wrote for the Virginia legislature, James Madison argued that the Sedition Act attacked the "right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people." In heavily Federalist Massachusetts, state legislators responded that a sedition law was "wise and necessary" to defend against secret attacks by foreign or domestic enemies.

The Federalists in Congress issued a report accepting the old English common law definition of free speech and press. It argued that the First Amendment only stopped the government from censoring beforehand any speeches or writings. The government, argued the Federalists, should be able to protect itself from false and malicious words.

Congressman John Nichols, a Republican from Virginia, challenged this Federalist view. He asserted that Americans must have a free flow of information to elect leaders and to judge them once they were in office. Nichols asked why government, which should be critically examined for its policies and decisions, should have the power to punish speakers and the press for informing the voters.

In the end, the people settled this debate in 1800 by electing Thomas Jefferson president and a Republican majority to Congress. In his inaugural address, Jefferson confirmed the new definition of free speech and press as the right of Americans "to think freely and to speak and write what they think."

For Discussion and Writing

What was the Sedition Act? Why was it passed? Do you think it was constitutional? Explain.


How did the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans differ regarding criticism of the government and freedom of speech and the press?


Write a letter to the editor of a 1798 newspaper, expressing your views about the Alien and Sedition Acts.
For Further Information

Primary Documents | Articles | Books | Links

Primary Documents

The Alien and Sedition Acts. From the Avalon Project.

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 From Archiving Early America.

Alien and Sedition Acts From Our Documents.

Alien and Sedition Acts of the United States From NapoleonSeries.

Encyclopedia and Other Articles

Alien and Sedition Acts From Columbia Encyclopedia.

Alien and Sedition Acts From Wikipedia.

Alien and Sedition Acts From AllRefer.

Order vs. Liberty By Larry Gragg from American History Magazine.

Books

Matthew Lyon, "New Man" of the Democratic Revolution, 1749-1822 By Aleine Austin. University Park, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1981.

John Adams By David McCullough.

Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: U.S. v. Thomas Cooper—A Violation of the Sedition Law From the National Archives and Records Administration.

Links

Yahoo Directory: Alien and Sedition Act

A C T I V I T Y

Freedom of Speech and the Press

The U.S. Supreme Court never decided whether the Alien and Sedition Acts were constitutional. In fact, it was not until the 20th century that the Supreme Court grappled with significant free speech and free press issues. In this activity, students look up some of these important Supreme Court decisions and report back to the class.

1. Divide the class into small groups. Assign each group one of the cases below.

2. Each group should:

a. Find, read, and discuss the case. The Internet has each of the cases (try http://www.FindLaw.com) or research them at your public library.

b. Write a summary of the case. It should include the facts of the case, the main issue, the decision of the court, the court's reasoning, and what the dissenting justices said.

c. Prepare to report on the case to the class. Include in your presentation how each of you think the case should have been decided and why.

3 .Have the groups report and discuss each decision.

Cases

Schenck v. U.S. 249 U.S. 47 (1919) Congress passed laws during World War I against distributing material that would interfere with the war effort. Charles Schenck, general secretary of the American Socialist Party, was convicted under this law for distributing leaflets urging draft-age men not "submit to intimidation" but to "petition for repeal" of the draft law.

New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) During the civil rights era, the New York Times printed an ad asking for donations to help peaceful protesters at Alabama State College. L.B. Sullivan, police commissioner of Montgomery, sued the Times for libel saying that the ad had false material that damaged his reputation.

New York Times Co. v. U.S. (1971) During the Vietnam War, the New York Times received a top-secret Defense Department 7,000-page history of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. It started publishing excerpts, and the government sued to have the newspaper stop publishing the excerpts.

Yates v. U.S. 354 U.S. 298 (1957) In 1939 with World War II looming, Congress passed the Smith Act, which made it a crime to advocate overthrowing the government by violence. In the 1950s, 14 leaders of the American Communist Party were convicted under the Smith Act.

Bill of Rights in Action 19:4

http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria19_4b.htm

I love your zeal, and push for authenticity, But have you ever heard the word synopsis?