Alien and Sedition Acts: A Quick Review

 

The year was 1798 and President John Adams was desperately trying to keep our young country out of another war. The majority of his cabinet firmly believed that – despite having helped us win the American Revolution – France was now planning to turn her guns on us and claim the young United States as her own.

Adams’ cabinet pleaded with him to sign a Declaration of War with France, but he staunchly refused. What he did do, however, was sign into law the Alien and Sedition Acts:

   - June 18, 1798, The Naturalization Act - aliens had to be residents for fourteen years – nearly tripling the previous five-year requirement – before becoming eligible for United States citizenship.

   - June 25, 1798, The Alien Act – The President could deport aliens he deemed dangerous to the security and welfare of the country. It was based solely on the president’s judgment, requiring little or no substantiation. When Moreau de Mery questioned why his name was on the list of French citizens Adams would like to see deported, what exactly was he charged with, Adams responded, “Nothing in particular, he’s just too French.”

And in a letter to Dickinson College students Adams advised “those in favor of France ought to be esteemed our greatest enemy.”

- July 6, 1798, The Alien Enemies Act - the arrest, imprisonment and deportation of aliens would be legal during wartime. Aliens could be arrested and imprisoned within minutes of the president signing a Declaration of War.

- July 14, 1798, The Sedition Act – It became illegal to write, print, or say anything that would weaken the government or defame its president. This was the final piece of legislation in the collective Alien and Sedition Acts.

Three days after Adams signed the Sedition Act, US Marshals arrested William Durrel, Republican editor of the Mount Pleasant Register in upstate New York, for criticizing President Adams. Mob fights broke out. The New York Times-Piece editor, John Daly Burke, was also arrested for sedition. Editors were seditious if they wrote negatively about the government – and suspicious, if they remained silent. During this period more than twenty newspapermen were arrested for sedition and their newspapers shut down.

 

All four of these Acts expired in 1800.