Hippocampus United States History: Alien and Sedition Act

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The feud with France created bad blood between the political parties in America. Democratic-Republicans and Federalists took advantage of every opportunity to undermine each other. In 1798, the Federalist-controlled Congress exploited the anti-French sentiment sweeping through the colonies to pass a series of laws that, on the surface, promoted American safety but actually were designed to quiet their Democratic-Republican counterparts. The Alien and Sedition Acts were comprised of four laws:

The Naturalization Act lengthened from five to fourteen years the residency requirement for citizenship. Since many poor European immigrants favored the more inviting Democratic-Republican Party, the wealthier aristocratic Federalists intended to use the act to delay their voting privileges.

The Alien Enemies Act allowed the president to expel aliens in wartime. Federalists created this law because they believed a war with France was imminent. However, since war was never officially declared, it served no feasible purpose.
The Alien Act authorized the president to deport or imprison all aliens whom he considered dangerous to the safety of the United States. Although the law was never enforced, many immigrants feared the subjective power the president wielded and fled the country.
The Sedition Act prohibited antigovernment activity. It was illegal to publish or even speak any false, scandalous, and malicious criticism of government officials. This law directly targeted Democratic-Republican newspapers. Twenty-five editors were indicted under the act, and ten were convicted by Federalist judges who did not attempt to hide their prejudice. Vermont Congressman Mathew Lyon, one of the first convicted, was fined and jailed for opposing the policies of the Adams administration. To avoid having the Sedition Act used against them, Federalists inserted into the law an expiration date of 1801 in case they lost the next election.

The Alien and Sedition Acts effectively muzzled the Democratic-Republicans; however, their ultimate effect worked against the Federalists. Many colonists, angry at the Federalist abuse of authority, shifted their political support to Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party. Adams also lost many followers because he agreed to sign the bills into law and ordered their enforcement. The political tide in the colonies was turning, and Jefferson was poised to take a leadership role.

In 1798, Jefferson and James Madison penned resolutions disputing the constitutionality of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Since the Congress and Supreme Court were dominated by Federalists, the duo took their fight to the Democratic-Republican legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. Jefferson presented his draft to the Kentucky legislature, and Madison offered his version to the legislature of Virginia.

The resolutions asserted that each state enter into a compact, or contract, with the national government and delegate power to the centralized entity for the common good of all states. If a state decided that the national government overstepped its constitutional authority, it could intervene to protect its citizens from tyrannical law. Jefferson argued that the Federal government had exceeded its authority with the establishment of the Alien and Sedition Acts and concluded that each state had the right to nullify the laws because they deemed them unconstitutional.

Jefferson and Madison hoped that the approval of their Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions would inspire other states to follow their lead to weaken the Federalist stronghold on government. They anticipated a swell in the membership of the Democratic-Republican Party as voters uncovered the truth about the Federalists’ actions. However, no other states approved the resolutions. Although the compact theory touting the power of individual states did not garner much support in the post-Revolutionary era, it would prove to play a substantial role in the political events leading up to the Civil War.