The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress in 1798 before America prepared for war against France. The acts increased the amount of time from 5 years to 14 years of living in America to become a citizen of the U.S. It forced the president to imprison or deport illegal aliens because of dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States” and restricted the freedom of speech against the government. These laws were passed to weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. Negative reaction happened when the people of the United States did not agree with these acts, which helped the Democratic-Republican Party win the 1800 presidential election. Only one act was repealed (The Naturalization Act) in 1802, all the rest were allowed to expire. These acts differ from the others in that the Alien and Sedition acts were really used to get people out of the country and keep them out, instead of keeping the people safe. I think the idea of these acts were reasonable in the aspect of all the illegal immigrants coming into the nation at the time. I do not agree with the …show more content…
The acts made it illegal to “ disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the Constitution, the government, the American Uniform, or the flag. Over the course of the acts reign, it prosecuted over 2,100 people. These acts compared to the others took away the freedom of speech that americans deserve. The government really took control of what the people could say or do with these acts unlike the other acts that were looking out for the American people. I agree with the government trying to build support for WW1, but I really hate that they took the freedom of speech away from the people to say what they want about the government or war. I feel that even in times of great sorrow, the American people should still be given all their rights no matter the
Click here to unlock this and over one million essays
Show MoreJohn Adams virtually eradicated his chances of easily winning the election of 1800 by defying the hardcore patriotic attitude of many Americans. Through his continued acts, regardless if they were what was best for the country at that particular time or is he believed morally that it was the correct decision, such as approving the Alien and Sedition Acts and helping the British soldiers that were involved in the Boston Massacre, he left no room for himself to take an easy path to the presidency much less any path to the presidency.
The Schenck court case of 1919 developed out of opposition to U.S. involvement in World War I (1914-1918). Antiwar sentiment in the United States was particularly strong among socialists, German Americans, and religious groups that traditionally supported antiviolence. In response to this outlook, Congress passed the Espionage Act of 1917. This law provided heavy fines and jail terms for interfering with U.S. military operations or for causing or attempting to cause insubordination or disloyalty in the military. In addition, the act made it illegal to obstruct recruitment efforts of the U.S. armed forces.
Schenek v. United States was a trial in 1919 that reaffirmed the conviction of a man for circulating antidraft leaflets among members of the armed forces. This trial upheld the Espionage and Sedition Acts, which by many deemed unconstitutional. The Espionage Act of 1917 was a United States federal law, which made it a crime for a person to convey information with intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the United States or to promote the success of its enemies. The Sedition Act forbade Americans to use "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, flag, or armed forces during war. The act also allowed the Postmaster General to deny mail delivery to dissenters of government policy during wartime. These two laws denied the freedom of speech that our sacred Bill of Rights was supposed to uphold. The antidraft flyers that Schenek passed out claimed to be freedom of speech so the government could not stop the circulation of Schenek’s pamphlets. However, by passing out antidraft laws, Schenek had “the intent to interfere with the operation of success of the armed forces of the United States.” By doing this, he broke the law. He was sentenced to six months in prison for breaking an unconstitutional law. The government was trying to reduce the freedom of speech during a time of war so that the nation would be united as one. The opposition of some feared Woodrow Wilson and his cabinet so they took action by reducing some freedoms and imprisoning many people unconstitutionally.
The Alien Act was a law that was signed by John Adams to weaken the Republican party. Because all the poor people and people from other country that moved here was a Republican and John Adams was with the Federalist party. Before the Alien Act was signed in to law, people from other country that live in the U.S, also called Foreigners, could became a citizen when they lived here for 5 years, but after the law was signed they had to want for 14 years till they can become a citizen(Welcome to Our Documents). This made the Republican party angry because you need to be a citizen of the U.S to vote and now they will have less people to vote because most of the Republican were Foreigners. The Alien Act also gave the President power to deport any Foreigner that if he thought they were being bad in this country. This also made the Republicans angry(Library of
government enacted the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 which led to the suppression of anti-war documents and sentiments, as well as the prosecution of over two-thousand individuals.#
The debate of the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 revealed bitter controversies on a number of issues. Most of the controversies had, however, arose even before these acts; as far back as the penning of the Constitution. The writers of the Constitution knew that as time proceeded, the needs and demands of the nation and of the people would change, leading to controversy. By not assigning specific powers to specific groups/parties, governments, they unintentionally created a vast problem in the years to come.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by the Federalist Congress in the year of 1798 and signing into the law by President John Adams. Any alien that was thought to be subversive was deported. Anyone that was criticizing
Both Acts aimed to protect the basic human rights of African-Americans, using federal law in the wake of the American Civil War. However this in itself is a major area of controversy, as the acts did merely aim to grant minimal rights to blacks, immediately suggesting their effectiveness was limited from the outset. Although indeed in contrast to this, it can be argued that the 14th Amendment to the constitution, embodying the Civil Rights Act of 1866, was a ‘step in the right direction’ and no matter how minimal that movement was, it was an essential starting point. The 1866 Act, defined all people born in the USA (except untaxed Indians) as national citizens, and this measure asserted the right of the federal government to intervene in state affairs should any discrepancies arise. This was a major advancement for the black community in terms of official social standing, especially having this act woven into the constitution, signifying a sense of security. However as shall be seen, it was not the idyllic, harmonious start many envisaged, supported by the introduction of the 1875 Act, which was designed to stop segregation.
These all made sense to be in effect for the time and date because many of the immigrants coming to the USA were Irish exiles (for plotting against British rule), British radicals, and French people (wanting to rebel against Adams). On these grounds, and many more, President Adams and the Federalist-controlled Congress had reason to believe that they had to protect their country from stirring troubles. In view of that, the government was permitted to the authority of deporting or imprisoning any foreigner that he saw fit. This is a very sensible power that the president ought to have had back then, given the particular situation.
The laws undermined the thirteenth, fourteenth,and fifteenth amendments. The thirteenth amendment completely abolished slavery.The fourteenth amendment stated that all people born or naturalized in America were American citizens, even African Americans and former slaves. The fifteenth amendment stated that people could not be denied the right to vote no matter their race, color, or former condition of servitude. States, especially those in the south, started passing laws that pushed African Americans down into second class. Southern states soon made the Grandfather Clause, all voters must pay a poll tax, take a literacy and property test, and an understanding clause. They were able to do this by saying it was to disqualify the the poor and unintelligence people from voting.
President Jefferson work diligently with congress to change the Alien Acts to have a more relaxed naturalization for only requiring five years of residency achieve United States citizenship, instead of the previous fourteen years.
The time period in American history from the end of the Revolution to about the 1830s or so is characterized by nationalism. The Revolution had just been won and now it was time to establish a viable, strong country with its own cultural heritage. American writers and painters created works reflecting distinctly American features and reflecting the growing sense of Nationalism of the time. In order to survive and thrive, the founders of this country fortified its political institutions, its economic relationships, and its place in the world both internally, through amassing territory, and internationally by standing up to those would interfere with the growth of the new country. Once the foundation had been laid in the Constitution for a strong
The Alien and Sedition acts were a series of documents passed in preparation of war with the French. The Acts stated 2 main points: Firstly, the Sedition Act focused mainly on the idea that that any person or group that used ill language and speaking in regards to the actions of the government was illegal and the individual(s) are subject to punishment by the government. In addition the Alien Act addressed the presence of immigrants in America in response to the Republican Party. Basically, the act stated that the government had the power to deport immigrants to leave the country regardless of citizenship as well as make it increasingly difficult for these people to have a say in political affairs. For example, the act made it extremely difficult for people from other countries to vote. Both acts were extremely controversial to both the people and elected officials such as Thomas
Congress wanted to protection plan create the fourteen amendment in 1865. The fourteen amendment declared all people born or naturalized in the US to be citizens. It went on to say were prohibited from denying citizen's equal rights. Dred Scott decision was overturned by Congress because it denied black people's citizenship. No one was surprised that Johnson opposed the amendment and every southern state opposed, but Tennessee. His left the Radicals without enough supporters to approve the amendment.
I believe that the Alien and Sedition Acts are violating the Constitution. The acts are taking away the rights of Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech. The act also gave more power to the federal government than the states. Any immigrant could be removed by the president at any time.