The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The
Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek
citizenship
Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection".
Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...
, the Alien Friends Act allowed the president to imprison and deport non-citizens, the Alien Enemies Act gave the president additional powers to detain non-citizens during times of war, and the Sedition Act criminalized false and malicious statements about the federal government. The Alien Friends Act and the Sedition Act expired after a set number of years, and the Naturalization Act was repealed in 1802. The Alien Enemies Act is still in effect.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were controversial. They were supported by the
Federalist Party
The Federalist Party was a Conservatism in the United States, conservative political party which was the first political party in the United States. As such, under Alexander Hamilton, it dominated the national government from 1789 to 1801.
De ...
, and supporters argued that the bills strengthened national security during the
Quasi-War, an undeclared naval war with
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
from 1798 to 1800. The acts were denounced by
Democratic-Republicans
The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early ...
as
suppression of voters and violation of
free speech
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been ...
under the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
. While they were in effect, the Alien and Sedition Acts, and the Sedition Act in particular, were used to suppress publishers affiliated with the Democratic-Republicans, and several publishers were arrested for criticism of the
Adams administration. The Democratic-Republicans took power in 1800, in part because of backlash to the Alien and Sedition Acts, and all but the Alien Enemies Act were eliminated by the next Congress. The Alien Enemies Act has been invoked several times since, particularly during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The Alien and Sedition Acts are generally received negatively by modern historians, and the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
has since indicated that aspects of the laws would be found unconstitutional if challenged.
Acts
Alien Friends Act
The Alien Friends Act (officially "An Act Concerning Aliens") authorized the president to arbitrarily deport any non-citizen that was determined to be "dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States." Once a non-citizen was determined to be dangerous, or was suspected of conspiring against the government, the president had the power to set a reasonable amount of time for departure, and remaining after the time limit could result to up to three years in prison. The law was never directly enforced, but it was often used in conjunction with the Sedition Act to suppress criticism of the Adams administration. Upon enactment, the Alien Friends Act was authorized for two years, and it was allowed to expire at the end of this period.
While the law was not directly enforced, it resulted in the voluntary departure of foreigners who feared that they would be charged under the act. The Adams administration encouraged these departures, and Secretary of State
Timothy Pickering
Timothy Pickering (July 17, 1745January 29, 1829) was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. He also represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party. ...
would ensure that the ships were granted passage. Though Adams did not delegate the final decision-making power, Secretary Pickering was responsible for overseeing enforcement of the Alien Friends Act. Both Adams and Pickering considered the law too weak to be effective; Pickering expressed his desire for the law to require
sureties
In finance, a surety , surety bond or guaranty involves a promise by one party to assume responsibility for the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. Usually, a surety bond or surety is a promise by a surety or guarantor to pay ...
and authorize detainment prior to deportation.
Many French nationals were considered for deportation, but were allowed to leave willingly, or Adams declined to take action against them. These figures included: philosopher
Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney
Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney (3 February 175725 April 1820) was a French philosopher, abolitionist, writer, orientalist, and politician. He was at first surnamed ''Boisgirais'' after his father's estate, but afterwards as ...
, General
Victor Collot
Victor Collot, in full Georges Henri Victor Collot (21 March 1750 – 15 May 1805), was a French military officer who served in the New World in various capacities, among them as Governor of Guadeloupe.
He is best known for his ex ...
, scholar
Médéric Louis Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry, diplomat
Victor Marie du Pont, journalist
William Duane, scientist
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...
, and journalist
William Cobbett
William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
. Secretary Pickering also proposed applying the act against the French diplomatic delegation to the United States, but Adams refused. Journalist
John Daly Burk agreed to leave under the act informally to avoid being tried for sedition, but he went into hiding in Virginia until the act's expiration.
Alien Enemies Act
The Alien Enemies Act (officially "An Act Respecting Alien Enemies") was passed to supplement the Alien Friends Act, granting the government additional powers to regulate non-citizens that would take effect in times of war.
Under this law, the president could authorize the arrest, relocation, or deportation of any non-citizen male residing in the United States that was 14 years or older. It also provided some legal protections for those subject to the law. The Alien Enemies Act was not allowed to expire with the other Alien and Sedition Acts, and it remains in effect as Chapter 3, Sections 21–24 of
Title 50 of the
United States Code
In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...
. President
James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
invoked the act against British nationals during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...
. President
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
invoked the act against nationals of the
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1918, an amendment to the act struck the provision restricting the law to males.
On December 7, 1941, in response to the
bombing of Pearl Harbor, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
used the authority of the revised Alien Enemies Act to issue
presidential proclamations #2525 (Alien Enemies – Japanese), #2526 (Alien Enemies – German), and #2527 (Alien Enemies – Italian), to apprehend, restrain, secure, and remove Japanese, German, and Italian non-citizens.
[
] Roosevelt later cited further wartime powers to issue
Executive Order 9066
Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...
, which
interned Japanese Americans using powers unrelated to the Alien Enemies Act.
[
"The War Relocation Authority and the Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II: 1948 Chronology"]
Web page
at
www.trumanlibrary.org.
Retrieved September 11, 2006.
Hostilities with Germany and Italy ended in May 1945, and President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
issued presidential proclamation #2655 on July 14. The proclamation gave the
Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general.
In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...
authority regarding enemy aliens within the
continental United States, to decide whether they are “dangerous to the public peace and safety of the United States,” to order them removed, and to create regulations governing their removal, citing the Alien Enemies Act. On September 8, 1945, Truman issued presidential proclamation #2662, which authorized the
Secretary of State to remove enemy aliens that had been sent to the United States from
Latin American
Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
countries. On April 10, 1946, Truman issued presidential proclamation #2685, which modified the previous proclamation, and set a 30-day deadline for removal.
In ''Ludecke v. Watkins'' (1948), the Supreme Court interpreted the time of release under the Alien Enemies Act. German alien Kurt G. W. Ludecke was detained in 1941, under Proclamation 2526, and continued to be held after cessation of hostilities. In 1947, Ludecke petitioned for a
writ of habeas corpus to order his release, after the Attorney General ordered him deported. The court ruled 5–4 to release Ludecke, but also found that the Alien Enemies Act allowed for detainment beyond the time hostilities ceased, until an actual treaty was signed with the hostile nation or government.
Naturalization Act
The Naturalization Act increased the residency requirement for American citizenship from five to 14 years, and increased the notice time from three to five years. At the time, the majority of immigrants supported
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
and the Democratic-Republicans—the political opponents of the Federalists.
It did not have an expiration date, but it was repealed by the
Naturalization Law of 1802
The Naturalization Law of 1802 (, enacted April 14, 1802) was passed by the United States Congress to amend the residency and notice periods of the previous Naturalization Act of 1798. It restored the less prohibitive provisions of the Naturaliza ...
.
Sedition Act
The Sedition Act made it illegal to make false or malicious statements about the federal government. The act was used to suppress speech critical of the Adams administration, including the prosecution and conviction of many
Jeffersonian newspaper owners who disagreed with the Federalist Party.
[
] The Sedition Act did not extend enforcement to speech about the Vice President, as then-incumbent Thomas Jefferson was a political opponent of the Federalist-controlled Congress. The Sedition Act was allowed to expire in 1800, and its enactment is credited with helping Jefferson win the presidential election that year.
Prominent prosecutions under the Sedition Act included:
*
James Thomson Callender
James Thomson Callender (1758 – July 17, 1803) was a political pamphleteer and journalist whose writing was controversial in his native Scotland and later, also in the United States. His revelations concerning George Washington, Alexander Hamilto ...
, a
British subject
The term "British subject" has several different meanings depending on the time period. Before 1949, it referred to almost all subjects of the British Empire (including the United Kingdom, Dominions, and colonies, but excluding protectorates ...
, had been expelled from
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
for his political writings. Living first in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, then seeking refuge close by in
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, he wrote a book titled ''The Prospect Before Us'' (read and approved by Vice President Jefferson before publication), in which he called the Adams administration a “continual tempest of malignant passions,” and referred to the President as a “repulsive pedant, a gross hypocrite, and an unprincipled oppressor.” Callender, already residing in Virginia and writing for the ''
Richmond Examiner
The ''Richmond Examiner'', a newspaper which was published before and during the American Civil War under the masthead of ''Daily Richmond Examiner'', was one of the newspapers published in the Confederate capital of Richmond. Its editors viewed ...
'', was indicted in mid-1800 under the Sedition Act, and was subsequently convicted, fined $200, and sentenced to nine months in jail.
[
]
*
Matthew Lyon
Matthew Lyon (July 14, 1749 – August 1, 1822) was an Irish-born American printer, farmer, soldier and politician, who served as a United States representative from both Vermont and Kentucky.
Lyon represented Vermont in U. S. Congress, Congre ...
was a Democratic-Republican congressman from
Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. He was the first individual to be placed on trial under the Alien and Sedition Acts.
He was indicted in 1800 for an essay he had written in the ''Vermont Journal,'' where he had accused the administration of “ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice.” While awaiting trial, Lyon commenced publication of ''Lyon's Republican Magazine'', subtitled "The Scourge of Aristocracy." At trial, he was fined $1,000, and sentenced to four months in jail. After his release, he returned to Congress.
*
Benjamin Franklin Bache was the editor of the ''
Philadelphia Aurora
The ''Philadelphia Aurora'' was published six days a week in Philadelphia from 1794 to 1824. The paper was founded by Benjamin Franklin Bache, who served as editor until his death in 1798. It is sometimes referred to as the ''Aurora General Adver ...
'', a Democratic-Republican newspaper. Bache had accused
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
of incompetence and financial irregularities, and ”the blind, bald, crippled, toothless, querulous Adams” of nepotism and monarchical ambition. He was arrested in 1798 under the Sedition Act, but he died of
yellow fever
Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In ...
before trial.
*
Anthony Haswell was an English immigrant, and a printer of the Jeffersonian ''
Vermont Gazette''. Sourced from the ''Philadelphia Aurora'', Haswell had reprinted Bache's claim that the federal government employed
Tories. Haswell also published an advertisement from Lyon's sons for a lottery to raise money for his fine that decried Lyon's oppression by jailers exercising "usurped powers". Haswell was found guilty of seditious libel by judge
William Paterson, and sentenced to a two-month imprisonment and a $200 fine.
[
]
* Luther Baldwin was indicted, convicted, and fined $100 for a drunken incident that occurred during a visit by President Adams to Newark, New Jersey. Upon hearing a gun report during a parade, he yelled "I hope it hit Adams in the arse."
* In November 1798,
David Brown led a group in
Dedham, Massachusetts
Dedham ( ) is a town in and the county seat of Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 25,364 at the 2020 census. It is located on Boston's southwest border. On the northwest it is bordered by Needham, on the southwest b ...
, including
Benjamin Fairbanks, in setting up a
liberty pole
A liberty pole is a wooden pole, or sometimes spear or lance, surmounted by a "cap of liberty", mostly of the Phrygian cap. The symbol originated in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of the Roman dictator Julius Caesar by a group of Ro ...
with the words, "No
Stamp Act, No Sedition Act, No Alien Bills, No Land Tax, downfall to the Tyrants of America; peace and retirement to the President; Long Live the Vice President."
[
] Brown was arrested in Andover, Massachusetts, but because he could not afford the $4,000 bail, he was taken to Salem for trial.
Brown was tried in June 1799.
Brown pleaded guilty, but Justice
Samuel Chase asked him to name others who had assisted him.
Brown refused, was fined $480 (),
and sentenced to eighteen months in prison, the most severe sentence imposed under the Sedition Act.
History
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by Congress while it was controlled by the Federalist Party in 1798.
[
] Members of the Federalist Party grew increasingly distrustful of the opposing Democratic-Republican Party with the Democratic-Republicans' support of France in the midst of the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
. Some appeared to desire a similar revolution in the United States to overthrow the government and social structure. Newspapers sympathizing with each side exacerbated the tensions by accusing the other side's leaders of corruption, incompetence, and treason.
[
] The spreading unrest in Europe and calls for secession in the United States appeared to threaten the newly formed American republic.
[
] Some of this agitation was seen by Federalists as having been caused by French and French-sympathizing immigrants.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were supported for different reasons, including the prevention of potential unrest by targeting immigrants, restriction of speech that may induce crime, reduction of partisan divides by penalizing expressly partisan speech, and suppression of political opponents of the Federalists.
The Acts were highly controversial at the time, especially the Sedition Act. The Sedition Act, which was signed into law by Adams on July 14, 1798, was hotly debated in the Federalist-controlled Congress and passed only after multiple amendments softening its terms, such as enabling defendants to argue in their defense that their statements had been true. Still, it passed the House only after three votes and another amendment causing it to automatically expire in March 1801.
[ They continued to be loudly protested and were a major political issue in the election of 1800. Opposition to them resulted in the also-controversial ]Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799 in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. The resolutions argued t ...
, authored by James Madison
James Madison Jr. (March 16, 1751June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Father. He served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for hi ...
and Thomas Jefferson. Upon assuming the presidency, Thomas Jefferson pardoned those still serving sentences under the Sedition Act, and Congress soon repaid their fines.[
]
Reaction
After the passage of the highly unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts, protests occurred across the country, with some of the largest being seen in Kentucky, where the crowds were so large they filled the streets and the entire town square of Lexington. Critics argued that they were primarily an attempt to suppress voters who disagreed with the Federalist party and its teachings, and violated the right of freedom of speech in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the natio ...
. They also raised concerns that the Alien and Sedition acts gave disproportionate power to the federal executive compared to state governments and other branches of the federal government. Noting the outrage among the populace, the Democratic-Republicans made the Alien and Sedition Acts an important issue in the 1800 presidential election campaign. While government authorities 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.
The Virginia and Kentucky state legislatures also passed the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, secretly authored by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, denouncing the federal legislation. While the eventual resolutions followed Madison in advocating "interposition
Interposition is a claimed right of a U.S. state to oppose actions of the federal government that the state deems unconstitutional. Under the theory of interposition, a state assumes the right to "interpose" itself between the federal government a ...
", Jefferson's initial draft would have nullified the Acts and even threatened secession
Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics le ...
. Jefferson's biographer Dumas Malone
Dumas Malone (January 10, 1892 – December 27, 1986) was an American historian, biographer, and editor noted for his six-volume biography on Thomas Jefferson, ''Jefferson and His Time'', for which he received the 1975 Pulitzer Prize for history a ...
argued that this might have gotten Jefferson impeached for treason, had his actions become known at the time. In writing the Kentucky Resolutions, Jefferson warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "necessarily drive these states into revolution and blood".
The Alien and Sedition Acts were never appealed to the Supreme Court, whose power of judicial review
Judicial review is a process under which executive, legislative and administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. A court with authority for judicial review may invalidate laws, acts and governmental actions that are incompat ...
was not established until ''Marbury v. Madison
''Marbury v. Madison'', 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137 (1803), was a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Supreme Court case that established the principle of Judicial review in the Uni ...
'' in 1803. Subsequent mentions in Supreme Court opinions beginning in the mid-20th century have assumed that the Sedition Act would today be found unconstitutional. Most modern historians view the Alien and Sedition Acts in a negative light, considering them to have been a mistake.
See also
* Alien Act of 1705
The Alien Act was a law passed by the Parliament of England in February 1705, as a response to the Parliament of Scotland's Act of Security of 1704, which in turn was partially a response to the English Act of Settlement 1701. Lord Godolphin, t ...
in Great Britain
* Seditious Meetings Act 1795 in Great Britain
* Espionage Act of 1917
* Logan Act
The Logan Act (, , enacted ) is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized nego ...
of 1799
* Sedition Act of 1918
* Alien Registration Act
The Alien Registration Act, popularly known as the Smith Act, 76th United States Congress, 3d session, ch. 439, , is a United States federal statute that was enacted on June 28, 1940. It set criminal penalties for advocating the overthrow of th ...
of 1940
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
Further reading
* Berkin, Carol. ''A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism'' (2017) pp 201–44.
*
* Bird, Wendell. ''Criminal Dissent: Prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798''. Harvard University Press, 2020.
*Bird, Wendell. ''Press and Speech Under Assault: The Early Supreme Court Justices, the Sedition Act of 1798, and the Campaign Against Dissent.'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
*
*Halperin, Terri Diane. ''The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: Testing the Constitution''. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016.
*
*
*
* Chase was impeached and acquitted for his conduct of a trial under the Sedition act.
*
*
*
*
* Wineapple, Brenda, "Our First Authoritarian Crackdown" (review of Wendell Bird
Wendell Bird (Atlanta, Georgia) is a legal historian, and formerly practiced law (nonprofit organizations and litigation).
Legal history
He is the author of ''Press and Speech Under Assault'' (Oxford University Press 2016), of ''Criminal Dissent ...
, ''Criminal Dissent: Prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798'', Harvard University Press, 2020, 546 pp.), ''The New York Review of Books
''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...
'', vol. LXVII, no. 11 (2 July 2020), pp. 39–40. Wineapple closes: "Jefferson said it all: 'I know not what mortifies me most, that I should fear to write what I think, or my country bear such a state of things.'"
*
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''
External links
* Full Text of Alien and Sedition Acts
Alien and Sedition Acts and Related Resources from the Library of Congress
Alien Friends Act, Alien Enemies Act, Sedition Act, 1798
50 U.S. Code § 21 – Restraint, regulation, 1918
* ttp://www.foitimes.com/internment/Proc2526.html Presidential Proclamation 2526, Alien Enemies—German, December 07, 1941
Presidential Proclamation 2527, Alien Enemies—Italians, December 07, 1941
Presidential Proclamation 2655—Removal of Alien Enemies, July 14, 1945
Presidential Proclamation 2662—Removal of Alien Enemies, September 8, 1945
Presidential Proclamation 2685—Removal of Alien Enemies, April 10, 1946
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alien And Sedition Acts
1798 in American law
5th United States Congress
Internment of Japanese Americans
Political repression in the United States
Presidency of John Adams
Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
The Alien and Sedition Acts were a set of four laws enacted in 1798 that applied restrictions to immigration and speech in the United States. The Naturalization Act increased the requirements to seek citizenship, the Alien Friends Act allowed th ...
United States federal immigration and nationality legislation