DOCSLIB.ORG

Alien and Sedition Acts • Explain Significance of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions Do Now “The Vietnam War Was Lost in America

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Alien and Sedition Acts • Explain Significance of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions Do Now “The Vietnam War Was Lost in America Adams SWBAT • Explain significance of the Alien and Sedition Acts • Explain significance of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions Do Now “The Vietnam War was lost in America. Public opinion killed any prospect of victory.” • What is the meaning of this statement? • What is more important, liberty (ie. free speech) or order (ie. security)? John Adams President John Adams • John Adams (Federalist) becomes President in 1797 *Due to an awkward feature of the Constitution, Jefferson becomes VP John Adams • During his presidency Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts • How does the cartoonist portray Adam’s actions? Alien and Sedition Acts, 1798 • Required immigrants to live in the Naturalization Act U.S. for l4 years before becoming a citizen • Allowed President to expel foreigners from the U.S. if he Alien Act believes they are dangerous to the nation's peace & safety • Allowed President to imprison or Alien Enemies Act expel foreigners considered dangerous in time of war • Barred American citizens from saying, writing, or publishing any Sedition Act false, scandalous, or malicious statements about the U.S. Gov, Congress, or the President Alien and Sedition Acts • The 4 acts together became known as the Alien and Sedition Acts • Response to the Alien and Sedition Acts: - Kentucky & Virginia Resolutions - (written by T. Jefferson & J. Madison) declared the Acts unconstitutional Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions 1. Called for the states to declare the Alien and Sedition Act null & void (invalid) 2. Introduced concept of nullification (ignoring federal laws) believing the states have the final say Virginia & Kentucky Resolutions • How did Jefferson justify the resolutions? - Federal gov was created by an agreement of states, & the federal gov only had powers specifically delegated to it by the Constitution Wrap Up • How did the Alien and Sedition Acts establish a “stable” political system? Time to Campaign! Election of 1800 • Create a campaign flyer, on a piece of construction paper, using your notes, for either John Adams or Thomas Jefferson! • Must include AT LEAST the following in some form: name of candidate, year of election, political party of the candidate, issues the candidate stood for, color, slogan, & creativity! Jefferson SWBAT • Analyze Jefferson’s Foreign and Domestic Policy Do Now: After reading the excerpt, answer the 2 questions that follow. Election of 1800 • DR- Thomas Jefferson (ran with Aaron Burr) • Fed- John Adams • Jefferson & Burr tied in Electoral College b/c voters meant for Jefferson to be Pres, and for Burr to be VP • According to the Constitution, when no one wins a majority of the vote, who decides the winner? HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES! Election of 1800 • Thomas Jefferson wins the election • Serves 2 terms 1801-1809 • Aaron Burr becomes Vice President *Power CAN transfer smoothly from one political party to another! • Election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson Foreign Policy: Events- 1. France & Britain harassing American ships 2. British forced American sailors to serve in their navy (needed sailors so badly in the war against France) (ie. impressment) Thomas Jefferson Jefferson’s Response: • Embargo Act of 1807- outlawed almost all trade with foreign nations (Britain and France) Results of the Embargo: 1. Didn’t effect Britain and France much Thomas Jefferson 2. Angered New Englanders started to smuggle goods 3. Left Jefferson’s 2nd term with a “black mark” Thomas Jefferson Domestic Policy: 1. Reduce government debt (through cuts in federal government departments & employees) 2. Reduce size of military Thomas Jefferson 3. Continued the Bank of the United States 4. Repealed Alien and Sedition Acts 5. Land Act of 1800- to increase settlement in the West (Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio) people could purchase land with credit Louisiana Purchase • The Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase! Thomas Jefferson 6. Louisiana Purchase- 1803 7. Lewis & Clark Expedition-1804 - sent to explore newly acquired territory The Louisiana Purchase • Complete the reading and discussion questions that follow Wrap Up • What role did Jefferson play in shaping the office of the Presidency? The Louisiana Purchase • Discussion Questions: 1.Where is this type of purchase justified in the Constitution? 2.What are benefits of ratifying the purchase? 3.Why would a Senate member have reservations about ratification? Thomas Jefferson • Thomas Jefferson Video Clip • Thought Questions: 1. In what ways did Jefferson stray from his strict constitutionalist values during his presidency? 2. How did he change the power of the presidency? Louisiana Territory Activity DO NOW • Which party favored a strict interpretation of the Constitution? • Who was the leader of this party in 1800? SWBAT • Examine multiple perspectives of those involved in the Louisiana Territory • Analyze a contradictory decision Jefferson had to make as a strict Constitutionalist Louisiana Territory Activity 1. Read the scenario your group has been given. 2. Discuss possible decisions, and explain what you would have done in the situation. 3. Make a final decision. 4. Summarize your decision on the blackboard. Louisiana Territory Activity • Reconvene as a class • You will now represent the US Senate. Decide whether or not to ratify Jefferson’s decision to purchase the land. VOTE! What do you think? • Directions- With a partner, answer the following question: • According to the awkward election turnout of 1796 and 1800, what changes would you propose to the Constitution? .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Federalist Era 1787-1800
    THE FEDERALIST ERA 1787-1800 Articles of Confederation: the first form of government. *NATIONAL GOVERNMENT TOO WEAK! Too much state power “friendship of states” examples of being too weak: • No President/No executive • Congress can’t tax or raise an army • States are coining their own money • Foreign troubles (British on the frontier, French in New Orleans) Shays’ Rebellion: Daniel Shays is a farmer in Massachusetts protesting tax collectors. The rebellion is a wake up call - recognize we need a new government Constitutional Convention of 1787: Delegates meet to revise the Articles, instead draft a new Constitution • Major issue discussed = REPRESENTATION IN CONGRESS (more representatives in Congress, more influence you have in passing laws/policies in your favor) NJ Plan (equal per state) vs. Virginia Plan (based on population) House of Representatives: GREAT COMPROMISE Based on population Creates a bicameral Senate: (two-house) legislature Equal, two per state THREE-FIFTHS • 3 out of every 5 slaves will count for representation and taxation COMPROMISE • increases representation in Congress for South Other Compromises: • Congress regulates interstate and foreign trade COMMERCIAL • Can tax imports (tariffs) but not exports COMPROMISE • Slave trade continued until 1808 How did the Constitution fix the problems of the Articles of Confederation? ARTICLES OF CONFEDERATION CONSTITUTION • States have the most power, national • states have some power, national government government has little has most • No President or executive to carry out
    [Show full text]
  • John Adams Contemporaries
    17 150-163 Found2 AK 9/13/07 11:27 AM Page 150 Answer Key John Adams contemporaries. These students may point out that Adams penned defenses Handout A—John Adams of American rights in the 1770s and was (1735–1826) one of the earliest advocates of colonial 1. Adams played a leading role in the First independence from Great Britain. They Continental Congress, serving on ninety may also mention that his authorship committees and chairing twenty-five of of the Massachusetts Constitution and these.An early advocate of independence Declaration of Rights of 1780 makes from Great Britain, in 1776 he penned him a champion of individual liberty. his Thoughts on Government, describing 5. Some students may suggest that gov- how government should be arranged. ernment may limit speech when the He headed the committee charged public safety requires it. Others may with writing the Declaration of Inde- suggest that offensive or obscene pendence. He served on the commis- speech may be restricted. Still other sion that negotiated the Treaty of Paris, students will argue against any limita- which ended the Revolutionary War. tions on freedom of speech. 2. Adams was not present at the Consti- tutional Convention. However, while serving as an American diplomat in Handout B—Vocabulary and London, he followed the proceedings. Context Questions Adams and Jefferson urged Congress 1. Vocabulary to yield to the Anti-Federalist demand a. disagreed for the Bill of Rights as a condition for b. caused ratifying the proposed Constitution. c. until now 3. The Alien and Sedition Acts gave the d.
    [Show full text]
  • Alien and Sedition Acts
    • On your own, SILENTLY look at the three pictures and notate them as follows: • ! “reminds me of…” • ? “a question I have …” • * “an Ah-ha moment, or something interesting about the image is…” • With your partner, discuss your annotations. • Then, together write a summary statement of how this cartoon relates to the Alien and Sedition Acts. http://b1969d.medialib.glogster.com/media/8f36eeb83766a5f6047b82cfdb0e2b0c377d000ec198aab5deecb96deec3e660/sedition.jpg John Adams wins the election of 1796. • Thomas Jefferson becomes the Vice President. • The United States now has a Federalist President and a Republican Vice President. • The U.S. was in the middle of a dispute with France when Adams takes office. • President Adams would send diplomats to Paris to try to resolve the dispute. France was attacking U.S. shipping in route to England. Charles Pinkney, John Marshall, and Eldridge Gerry were U.S. Diplomats to France. 3 French envoys known as (X,Y, and Z) demanded a bribe of $250,000 to enter negotiations. The U.S. refused. The French government was corrupt and attacking U.S. merchants. The U.S. wanted war. 1797 - The XYZ Affair • In 1798 the United States stood on the brink of war with Alien and France. The Federalists believed that Democratic- Sedition Republican criticism of Federalist policies was disloyal Acts (1798) and feared that aliens (immigrants from France) living in the United States would sympathize with the French during a war. As a result, a Federalist-controlled Congress passed four laws, known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws raised the residency requirements for citizenship from 5 to 14 years, authorized the President to deport aliens, and permitted their arrest, imprisonment, and deportation during wartime.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 6: Federalists and Republicans, 1789-1816
    Federalists and Republicans 1789–1816 Why It Matters In the first government under the Constitution, important new institutions included the cabinet, a system of federal courts, and a national bank. Political parties gradually developed from the different views of citizens in the Northeast, West, and South. The new government faced special challenges in foreign affairs, including the War of 1812 with Great Britain. The Impact Today During this period, fundamental policies of American government came into being. • Politicians set important precedents for the national government and for relations between the federal and state governments. For example, the idea of a presidential cabinet originated with George Washington and has been followed by every president since that time • President Washington’s caution against foreign involvement powerfully influenced American foreign policy. The American Vision Video The Chapter 6 video, “The Battle of New Orleans,” focuses on this important event of the War of 1812. 1804 • Lewis and Clark begin to explore and map 1798 Louisiana Territory 1789 • Alien and Sedition • Washington Acts introduced 1803 elected • Louisiana Purchase doubles president ▲ 1794 size of the nation Washington • Jay’s Treaty signed J. Adams Jefferson 1789–1797 ▲ 1797–1801 ▲ 1801–1809 ▲ ▲ 1790 1797 1804 ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ 1793 1794 1805 • Louis XVI guillotined • Polish rebellion • British navy wins during French suppressed by Battle of Trafalgar Revolution Russians 1800 • Beethoven’s Symphony no. 1 written 208 Painter and President by J.L.G. Ferris 1812 • United States declares 1807 1811 war on Britain • Embargo Act blocks • Battle of Tippecanoe American trade with fought against Tecumseh 1814 Britain and France and his confederacy • Hartford Convention meets HISTORY Madison • Treaty of Ghent signed ▲ 1809–1817 ▲ ▲ ▲ Chapter Overview Visit the American Vision 1811 1818 Web site at tav.glencoe.com and click on Chapter ▼ ▼ ▼ Overviews—Chapter 6 to 1808 preview chapter information.
    [Show full text]
  • National Register of Historic Places Inventory -- Nomination Form | Name (Owner of Property Location of Legal Description 1 Repr
    Form No 10-300 (Rev 10-74) ^M U NITbD STATES DEPARTMEm OF THE INTERIOR FOR «PS USE OHtY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES RECEIVED. INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS __________TYPE ALL ENTRIES -COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS______ | NAME HISTORIC John Adams Birthplace AND/OR COMMON John Adams Birthplace Q LOCATION STREETS NUMBER 133 Franklin Street —NOT FOR PUBLICATION CITY. TOWN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT Quincy —. VICINITY OF Eleventh STATE CODE COUNTY CODE Massachusetts 025 Norfolk 021 Q CLASSIFI C ATI ON CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS PRESENT USE _ DISTRICT ^PUBLIC X-OCCUPIED _ AGRICULTURE X.MUSEUM X_BUILOING(S) _PRIVATE _ UNOCCUPIED _ COMMERCIAL _ PARK —STRUCTURE _BOTH —WORK IN PROGRESS — EDUCATIONAL _ PRIVATE RESIDENCE —SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE _ ENTERTAINMENT _ RELIGIOUS —OBJECT —IN PROCESS X-VES: RESTRICTED —GOVERNMENT —SCIENTIFIC _ BEING CONSIDERED _ YES: UNRESTRICTED _ INDUSTRIAL _ TRANSPORTATION —NO _ MILITARY _ OTHER (OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME city of Quincy (administered by Quincy Historical Society) STREETS NUMBER City Hall CITY, TOWN STATE Quincy 12169 VICINITY OF Massachusetts LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC Norfolk Registry of Deeds STREETS NUMBER High Street CITY, TOWN STATE Dedham 02026 Massachusetts 1 REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE Historic American Buildings Survey (exterior photo) DATE 1941 XFEDERAL —STATE —COUNTY _LOCAL DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS Division of Prints and Photographs, Library of Congress __- CITY. TOWN Washington 20540 District of Columbia DESCRIPTION CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE — EXCELLENT _ DETERIORATED __UNALTERED JWRIGINALSITE XGOOD XALTERED __FAIR —UNEXPOSED DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE The John Adams Birthplace stands on the west side of Franklin Street (number 133) approximately 150 feet from its intersection with Presidents Avenue.
    [Show full text]
  • Minority Report: John Marshall and the Defense of the Alien and Sedition Acts
    OHIO STATE LAW JOURNAL VOLUME 68, NUMBER 2, 2007 Minority Report: John Marshall and the Defense of the Alien and Sedition Acts KURT T. LASH* ALICIA HARRSON** In 1799, the Federalist minority of the Virginia House of Delegates produced an extended defense of the Alien and Sedition Acts. This Minority Report responded to Madison's famous Virginia Resolutions and efforts by Virginia Republicans to tar the Adams Administration with having exceeded its powers under the federal Constitution. Originally attributed to John Marshall by biographerAlbert Beveridge, recent biographies of Marshall have omitted the episode or rejected Beveridge's claim and the current editors of the Papers of John Marshall omitted the Minority Report from their multi-volume collection of Marshall's work. What was once an assumed (if controversial) episode in Marshall's career has disappeared from otherwise exhaustive accounts of his life and work. As in Philip K. Dick's story, Minority Report, an alternate view of events has been unceremoniously erasedfrom the official record. The authors of this Article challenge the decision to remove Marshall's name from the Minority Report. Marshall was the only person named at the time as the probable author, and Marshallhad both reason and opportunity to draft the Address. The arguments of the Report not only track Marshall's views on the Constitution, they utilize constitutional arguments that were * Professor of Law and W. Joseph Ford Fellow, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. B.A., Whitman College; J.D., Yale Law School. I thank the wonderful staff at the Huntington Research Library for their invaluable assistance locating innumerable primary documents.
    [Show full text]
  • Families in the Revolution: Patriots in the Countryside
    National Historical Park Adams National Park Service U.S. Department of Interior FAMILIES IN THE REVOLUTION: PATRIOTS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE Index 555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 a Letter to Teacher a Themes, Goals, Objectives, and Program Description a Resources & Worksheets a Pre-Visit Materials a Student Bibliography a Logistics a Directions a Other Places to Visit a Program Evaluation Dear Teacher, The Birthplaces at the Adams National Historical Park commemorate the only father-son presidents, John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and provide us with a unique setting where history seems to come to life. Our student-driven curriculum actively engages students in their own exciting and enriching learning process. This program will instill in students the realization that sacrifice, coopera- tion, and determination are necessary attributes for seeking justice and liberty, as evidenced by the Adams family. The American Revolution was one of the most daring popular movements in modern history. The colonists were challenging one of the most powerful nations in the world. Americans were facing what appeared to be insurmountable odds. While the story of the Revolution's battles, political debates, and confrontations are much studied, the impact of the war on individual families is sometimes overlooked. This program will examine the effects of war and military occupation on American patriot families. Two families, the Adamses and the Reveres, were committed to the revolutionary cause and their con- tributions took hardy tolls upon their family lives. John Adams and Paul Revere had such profound influence on the movement for American independence because they had families who shared their beliefs and who would, despite great personal risk, unselfishly give them advice, moral support, and love throughout the struggle.
    [Show full text]
  • Meet John Adams – a Lively and Revolutionary Conversation with America's Second President
    MEET JOHN ADAMS – A LIVELY AND REVOLUTIONARY CONVERSATION WITH AMERICA'S SECOND PRESIDENT CLE Credit: 1.0 Friday, May 13, 2016 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Cascade Ballroom B Kentucky International Convention Center Louisville, Kentucky A NOTE CONCERNING THE PROGRAM MATERIALS The materials included in this Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education handbook are intended to provide current and accurate information about the subject matter covered. No representation or warranty is made concerning the application of the legal or other principles discussed by the instructors to any specific fact situation, nor is any prediction made concerning how any particular judge or jury will interpret or apply such principles. The proper interpretation or application of the principles discussed is a matter for the considered judgment of the individual legal practitioner. The faculty and staff of this Kentucky Bar Association CLE program disclaim liability therefore. Attorneys using these materials, or information otherwise conveyed during the program, in dealing with a specific legal matter have a duty to research original and current sources of authority. Printed by: Evolution Creative Solutions 7107 Shona Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45237 Kentucky Bar Association TABLE OF CONTENTS The Presenter .................................................................................................................. i John Adams .................................................................................................................... 1 Interesting
    [Show full text]
  • Silencing the Opposition
    Chapter 1 The Alien and Sedition Crisis Craig R. Smith ess than seven years after the First Amendment was made part of the LConstitution, it came under attack. This chapter demonstrates that the challenges to the First Amendment were politically motivated when the nation was perceived to be in serious danger. Facing a war with France and the potential of internal subversion, founders such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams rationalized extra-constitutional activity on the part of the government. Despite protests from Democratic-Republicans, the Congress approved, and the executive branch carried out, legislation that muzzled freedom of expression. That action forced defenders of the Constitution to come forward and resolve the crisis in favor of the original, broader applica- tion of the First Amendment.1 Hamilton had been instrumental in the writing of the Constitution and in the monumental rhetorical effort to ensure its ratifi cation. His essays in the Federalist Papers are among the most powerful. Like John Adams and for a long time James Madison, Hamilton did not believe that a bill of rights should be included in the Constitution. He believed that enumerating specifi c rights in the Constitution would imply that nonenumerated rights could be taken away from the states and their citizens by the Congress.2 Hamilton argued in Federalist number 84 that if such a list of rights were included in the Constitution, then any rights left off the list would go unprotected by the Constitution. “Here, in strictness, the people surrender nothing, and as they retain every thing, they have no need of particular reservations.” He went on to claim that the clause stating “We the people” guaranteed all natural rights to the people; not listing individual rights in the Constitution implied that these rights were the birthright of mankind.
    [Show full text]
  • Honorable Disobedience the Sedition Act and America's Partisan Martyrs
    THOMAS HOPSON HONORABLE DISOBEDIENCE THE SEDITION ACT AND AMERICA’S PARTISAN MARTYRS Crippled by the 1798 Sedition Act, it appeared as if the Republican press faced extinc- tion. Yet a mere two years later, Thomas Jefferson captured the presidency, ushering in a thirty-year long period of Republican rule. In seeking to explain this reversal, Thomas Hopson ’16 argues that Republican newspaper editors engaged in political combat, sacri- ficing themselves as political martyrs for their party’s cause. Refusing to be restrained by the Sedition Act, these editors went as far as provoking their own prosecutions in order to both expose the Federalists’ abuses of power and elicit the public’s sympathy for the Republican Party. By Thomas Hopson, TC ’16 Written for “The Creation of the American Politician, 1789–1820” Professor Joanne Freeman Faculty Advisor: Alejandra Dubcovsky Edited by Christine Wang, Maxwell Ulin, and Graham Ambrose 53 HONORABLE DISOBEDIENCE The first victim of the Sedition Act was a United States Congressman. Matthew Lyon, a Representative from Vermont, served four months in jail for criticizing President Adams in his semi-monthly newspaper, The Scourge of Aristocracy.1 Due to this charge of “scurrilous, feigned, false, scandalous, seditious, and malicious” conduct, Lyon faced another burden: running his re- election campaign from a jail cell.2 Through it all, Lyon remained confident. “[T]he friends of Lib- erty, sensibly feel the injustice and indignity done to me and themselves; they will be neither idle nor bashful at the next election.”3 The claim proved prescient. When the votes were counted, Lyon could proudly declare, “When- ever gaols and fines shall become the common reward of patriotism and virtue, they will cease to be a terror, [only] a sham [of ] thieves and robbers.” He had won 65 percent of the vote, and as he left his “dismal prison,” a crowd of supporters followed him from Vermont to Philadelphia.4 Lyon’s experience mirrors larger patterns in the history of the Sedition Act.
    [Show full text]
  • Popular Nullification, Fries' Rebellion, and the Waning of Radical Republicanism, 1798-1801 Robert H
    Popular Nullification, Fries' Rebellion, and the Waning of Radical Republicanism, 1798-1801 Robert H. Churchill Rutgers University In May, 1798, a Republican writing under the pseudonym "Nestor" accused President John Adams of renouncing the principles for which Ameri- cans had fought the Revolution. Seizing on Adams' comment that Americans had fought for independence only out of necessity, Nestor accused Adams of misinterpreting the meaning of the Revolution: "Did America resist because she wished only to be independent? No! Mr. Adams' assertion to the contrary, she contended for freedom as well as independence." Nestor insisted that in belittling America's struggle for freedom, Adams had revealed his hitherto veiled hostility to liberty. "The real enemy," Nestor warned his readers, "is assaulting the citadel of your dearest privileges-Fleets, standing armies, debts and taxes are preparing for you." Though Nestor dearly twisted Adams' words to the President's discredit, his prediction was borne out over the summer months of 1798. Adams and the Federalist majority did indeed pass a program of legislation intended to prepare the country for an impending war with France. These measures in- cluded new internal taxes, a larger navy and a standing army, and the borrow- ing of large sums at eight-percent interest. Republicans denounced this pro- gram as unnecessary, burdensome, and despotic. The passage of the war pro- gram of 1798, which also included the Alien and Sedition Acts, initiated a political crisis that lasted for the next two years. The crisis brought into full focus the question that was central to debates over the meaning of the Revolu- tion: whether the people might resist oppressive acts undertaken by a govern- ment of their own creation.
    [Show full text]
  • The Sedition Act of 1798
    The Sedition Act of 1798 Sedition Act of 1798 – a brief history of arrests, indictments, mistreatment & abuse By Gordon T. Belt First Amendment Center library manager Introduction In 1798 the Alien and Sedition Acts were signed into law by President John Adams in response to fears of an impending war with France. These acts, consisting of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress, increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to 14 years, authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens considered "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States" and restricted speech critical of the government. While the Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton and Adams, argued that these laws were passed to protect the United States from foreign invaders and propagandists, Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, saw the Alien and Sedition Acts as a direct threat to individual liberty and the First Amendment by a tyrannical government. The Alien and Sedition Acts were fiercely debated in the press, which was overtly partisan at the time. Many editors of Democratic-Republican-sponsored newspapers vehemently opposed the new laws, in particular the Sedition Act, which made speaking openly against the government a crime of libel punishable by fine and even prison time. Federalists sought to quell dissent by prosecuting those who violated the Sedition Act to the fullest extent of the law. Accounts vary about the number of arrests and indictments that occurred as a result of the passage of the Sedition Act of 1798. Most scholars cite 25 arrests and at least 17 verifiable indictments – 14 under the Sedition Act and three under common law.
    [Show full text]