1. Challenges of the New Government
Alien & Sedition Acts
Challenges of the New Government

2. Who & When? NOT Washington Now, John Adams is President
1798: Federalist Congress passed laws called Alien & Sedition Acts
President Adams signed them

3. What were the Alien Acts?
1- Made it difficult for aliens (foreigners) to become citizens
2- President could throw anyone he wanted out of US
3- Made it difficult for foreigners to vote

4. What caused this? France & England were at war
Federalists supported English
Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson) supported the French
Acts were aimed at French who were fleeing from the violence of the French Revolution

5. What caused this? Federalists acted as if the French were all villains
Religious prejudice was at work, too.
Most people in the U.S. were Protestants.
Most French people were Catholics.
Unfortunately, some Americans wanted to keep Catholics out of the country, so they supported the Alien acts.

6. Could it get any worse? Yes, the Sedition Acts may have been worse!
Sedition Act: outlawed sedition
Saying or writing anything false or harmful about the government became illegal. Newspaper editors were arrested.

7. Were people really getting in trouble for this?
Some people got arrested for doing just that. One was Ben Franklin’s grandson. Another was Congressman Lyon of Vermont, a revolutionary war veteran.
Congressman Lyon attacked President Adams in the Rutland Gazette, saying Adams was trying to act like a king. He said Adams should be sent “to a mad house.”

8. Constitution
Article I of the Bill of Rights says: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…

9. Were they allowed to do this?
Congress and the president had done something the Constitution said they couldn’t do. They were restricting freedom of speech and of the press.

10. Could this happen today?
No, the Supreme Court would declare them unconstitutional.
THEN: the Supreme Court was just getting organized during Adam’s term as president.

11. How did it happen then? court was not very strong
No one was quite sure what to do
But, the Virginia and Kentucky state legislatures declared the Alien and Sedition laws unconstitutional.

12. State Rights
Jefferson & Madison argued that if a state believed a law unconstitutional, it had the right to say so and not obey the law.
Massachusetts responded, stating it had agreed to the Constitution and were bound by that agreement. It was not up to the states to say if a law was unconstitutional or not.

13. Relating to Today
But just imagine if each state had the right to declare laws unconstitutional. Things would get very combative in this 50- state country (like the Civil War.)

14. So What Happened?
In the end, the Alien and Sedition acts expired, but they were not renewed.

15. Could this happen again?
The Constitution was a great beginning, but there were things to be worked out.
It was not until 1803 that the Supreme Court first claimed the right to decide if a law is unconstitutional.