Alien and Sedition Acts
In 1798, the Federalist-controlled Congress passed four acts to
empower the president of the United States to expel dangerous
Aliens from the country; to give the president authority to arrest,
detain, and deport resident aliens hailing from enemy countries
during times of war; to lengthen the period of naturalization for
immigrants, and to silence Republican criticism of the Federalist Party.
Also an act passed by Congress in 1918 during World War I that made
it a crime to disrupt military recruiting or enlistments, to encourage
support for Germany and its allies or disrespect for American war
efforts, or to otherwise bring the U.S. government, its leaders, or its
symbols into disrepute.
The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
Passions over the French Revolution split early American politics.
Having endured Shays's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion,
Federalists saw much to fear in the French Revolution. On the other
hand, Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson, proudly
supported the French Revolution as the progeny of the American
Revolution. Democratic-Republicans still viewed Britain as an enemy,
while the Federalists regarded Britain as a bulwark against French
militancy.
In early 1798, John Quincy Adams, son of President John Adams and
the U.S. ambassador to Prussia, advised his father that France
intended to invade America's western frontier. Jonathon Dayton,
speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, speculated publicly
that troops already massed in French ports were destined for North
America. Federal officials feared parts of America were rife with
French agents and sympathizers who might rise up in support of an
invasion. George Tucker, professor of Law at the College of William
and Mary, predicted that 100,000 U.S. inhabitants, including himself,
would join a French invading army. Former president George
Washington, summoned from retirement to lead the U.S. Army
against a possible French invasion, expressed concerns that France
would invade the southern states first, "because the French will
expect from the tenor of the debates in Congress to find more friends
there."
Congress responded to these concerns by enacting the Alien and
Sedition Acts, the popular names for four laws passed in 1798. On
June 18, Congress passed the Naturalization Act, which extended
from five to 14 years the period of residence required for alien
immigrants to become full U.S. citizens (1 Stat. 566). On June 25,
Congress passed the Alien Act, which authorized the president to
expel, without a hearing, any alien the president deemed
"dangerous to the peace and safety" of the United States or whom the president
suspected of "treasonable or secret" inclinations (1 Stat. 570). On July
6, Congress passed the Alien Enemy Act, which authorized the
president to arrest, imprison, or banish any resident alien hailing from
a country against which the United States had declared war (1 Stat.
577).
None of these first three acts had much practical impact. The
Naturalization Act contained a built-in window period that allowed
resident aliens to become U.S. citizens before the fourteen-year
requirement went into effect. President Adams never invoked the
Alien Act, and the passing of the war scare in 1789 rendered the Alien
Enemies Act meaningless.
However, the Sedition Act deepened partisan political positions
between the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party.
The Sedition Act made it a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine,
imprisonment, or both, for citizens or aliens
(1) to oppose the execution of federal laws;
(2) to prevent a federal officer from performing his or her duties;
(3) to aid "any insurrection, riot, Unlawful Assembly, or combination"; or
(4) to make any defamatory statement about the federal government or the president
(1 Stat. 596).
Because the Federalists controlled Congress and the White House,
Republicans believed these laws were aimed at silencing Jeffersonian
critics of the Adams administration and its laws and policies. Eighteen
people were indicted under the Sedition Act of 1798; 14 were
prosecuted, and 10 convicted, some of whom received prison
sentences.
The validity of the Sedition Act was never tested in the U.S. Supreme
Court before it expired in 1801. But Congress later passed a law that
repaid all fines collected under it, and Jefferson, after becoming
president in 1801, pardoned all those convicted under the act.
Before becoming president, Jefferson joined Madison in voicing
opposition to the Sedition Act by drafting the VIRGINIA AND KENTUCKY
RESOLUTIONS . Jefferson was responsible for drafting the two Kentucky
Resolutions, while Madison penned the one Virginia Resolution. The
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions condemned the Sedition Act as a
violation of the Free Speech Clause to the First Amendment of the U.S.
Constitution. The resolutions also argued that Congress had
exceeded its powers by passing the law in the first place, since
Congress may only exercise those powers specifically delegated to it,
and nowhere in Article I of the Constitution is authority given to the
legislative branch to regulate political speech. The Kentucky state
legislature passed its two resolutions on November 16, 1798, and
November 22, 1999, while Virginia passed its one resolution on
December 24, 1798.
Sedition Act of 1918
Concern over disloyalty during wartime provided the backdrop for the
second Sedition Act in U.S. history. In April 1917, the United States
entered World War I when Congress declared war against Germany
and its allies. A month later, the Selective Service Act reinstated the
military draft. Both the draft and U.S. entry into the war were met
with protest at home. Worried that anti-war protestors might interfere
with the prosecution of the war, Congress passed the Sedition Act of
1918.
An amendment to the Espionage Act of 1917, the Sedition Act of 1918
made it a felony
(1) to convey false statements interfering with American war efforts;
(2) to willfully employ "disloyal, profane,scurrilous, or abusive language"
about the U.S. form of government,the Constitution, the flag, or U.S.
military or naval forces;
(3) to urge the curtailed production of necessary war materials; or
(4) to advocate, teach, defend, or suggest the doing of any such acts.
Violations were punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both. The law
was aimed at curbing political dissent expressed by socialists,
anarchists, pacifists, and certain labor leaders.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Sedition Act of 1918 over free
speech objections made by civil libertarians. However, in a famous
dissenting opinion that shaped First Amendment law for the rest of
the twentieth century, Associate Justice OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES JR .
encouraged courts to closely scrutinize prosecutions under the
Sedition Act to make sure that only those individuals who created a
Clear and Present Danger of immediate criminal activity were
convicted (Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616, 1180, 40 S. Ct. 17,
63 L. Ed. 1173 [1919]).
Further readings
Miller, John Chester. 1951. Crisis in Freedom: The Alien and Sedition
Acts. Boston: Little, Brown.
Moore, Wayne D. 1994. "Reconceiving Interpretive Autonomy:
Insights from the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions." Constitutional
Commentary 11 (fall).
Smith, James Morton. 1956. Freedom's Fetters: The Alien and Sedition
Laws and American Civil Liberties. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Univ. Press.
Cross-references
Aliens "Aliens and Civil Rights" (Sidebar); Espionage; Freedom of
Speech.
West's Encyclopedia of American Law, edition 2. Copyright 2008 The Gale
Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
