Challenges of the New Government Who amp When NOT Washington Now John Adams is President 1798 Federalist Congress passed laws called Alien amp Sedition Acts President Adams signed them What were the Alien Acts ID: 559054
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "Alien & Sedition Acts" is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
Alien & Sedition Acts
Challenges of the New GovernmentSlide2
Who & When?
NOT Washington
Now, John Adams is President1798: Federalist Congress passed laws called Alien & Sedition ActsPresident Adams signed themSlide3
What were the Alien Acts?
3 Acts1- Made it difficult for aliens (foreigners) to become citizens
2- President could throw anyone he wanted out of US3- Made it difficult for foreigners to voteSlide4
What caused this?
France & England were at warFederalists supported English
Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson) supported the FrenchActs were aimed at French who were fleeing from the violence of the French RevolutionSlide5
What caused this?
Federalists
acted as if the French were all villainsReligious 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.Slide6
Could it get any worse?
Yes, the Sedition Acts may have been worse!
Sedition Act: outlawed seditionSaying or writing anything false or harmful about the government became illegal. Newspaper editors were arrested.Slide7
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.” Slide8
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…Slide9
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.Slide10
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.Slide11
How did it happen then?
court
was not very strongNo one was quite sure what to doBut, the Virginia and Kentucky state legislatures declared the Alien and Sedition laws unconstitutional. Slide12
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.Slide13
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.)Slide14
So What Happened?
In the end, the Alien and Sedition acts expired, but they were not renewed.Slide15
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.