Topic: The Alien and Sedition Acts.

[ancients]

The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills passed in 1798 by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress during an undeclared naval war with France, later known as the Quasi-War. They were signed into law by President John Adams. Proponents claimed the acts were designed to protect the Catholics from alien citizens of enemy powers and to prevent seditious attacks from weakening the government. The Democratic-Republicans, like later historians, denominated them as being both unconstitutional and designed to stifle criticism of the administration, and as infringing on the right of the states to act in these areas. They became a major political issue in the elections of 1798 and 1800.


To address the constitutionality of the measures, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison sought to unseat the Federalists, appealing to the people to remedy the constitutional violation, and drafted the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which called on the states to nullify the federal legislation. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions reflect the Compact Theory, which holds that the United States is made up of a voluntary union of states that agree to cede some of their authority in order to join the union, but that the states do not, ultimately, surrender their sovereign rights. Therefore, under the Compact Theory, states can determine if the federal government has violated its agreements, including the Constitution, and nullify such violations or even withdraw from the union. Variations of this theory were also argued at the Hartford Convention at the time of the War of 1812, and by the southern states just before the American Civil War.

The Sedition Act expired on March 3, 1801, coinciding with the end of the Adams administration. While this prevented its constitutionality from being directly decided by the Supreme Court, subsequent mentions of the Sedition Act in Supreme Court opinions have assumed that it would be ruled unconstitutional if ever tested in court.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts

[mz gulagg]

INTERESTING,ancients. You can bet these Sedition Acts would be judged unconstitutional today on 1st amendment grounds(free speech) . The right of states to NULLIFY federal law as asserted by Madison & Jefferson on this issue would be soundly rejected---even tho Madison was the most influencial in writing the constitution and was called 'The Father of the Constitution" by Lincoln. You'd think Madison's view that states COULD nulllify would be at least as relevent as propellorhead judges who now DENY that right to states. And the fed courts  interpret the commerce clause to allow the feds to ride roughshod over states.The net effect is to vastly increase fed power by decreasing state power,state power Madison said states have. The lefttoids who now say we should never change our constitution(they want anchor babies of the 14th amendment left alone)ignore the profound changes ALREADY made in it by courts & amendments. Some in the tea Party want these issues revisited.And they are right to want that. The left fears ANY discussion of these issues & calls any who want it,"racists"(the modern way to gain effect similar to the Sedition Acts--ie, shut people up). I suspect we live under the rule of Harvard Law school, NOT the constitution.

[ancients]

For those that think at all, being illegal is not illegal is very confusing.
I would say it is changing the law, without the votes.
Why, fear of every voting group.

Ah, this is not new. History shows many of these times.
And the biggest losers are always personal rights.

[phred]

 


    Ohhh, there are so many events associated with this
    act and interesting stories and outcomes......

    I'm not going to try to find this printed on the Net,
    but rather, will just share one.

    When John Adams was President, Thomas Jefferson
    was Vice-President.  At this time, the vice-pres was
    not selected by the presidential candidate; the person
    getting the next highest votes became vice-president.

    Hence, sometimes these two were from different
    parties and not friends.

    History records that Adams and Jefferson were
    longtime personal friends and that Jefferson was not
    supportive of anyone but himself.  Jefferson paid
    a local newspaper to print disparaging articles
    about the Adams administration. 

    The newspaper editor was sent to jail for eight months.   
    The thinking at the time was that the newspaper editor
    committed the foul act (as per the Sedition Act)
    and paying for it was not illegal.

    When the editor got out of jail, Jefferson had become
    President and the editor sought a position in the
    federal government.  Jefferson turned him down.

    It was then that the editor printed the series of
    articles about Thomas Jefferson and his 'other,
    undeclared wife' Sally Hemings.

   
   

[ancients]

Yes, It makes modern day politics look the same. We are humans, and always were.
A very good point you have given.

You notice, the press was never unbiased.

[phred]

 


     Yes!  You have hit all the salient points -
     the politics, the mixture that is the human soul,
     and the press has always been... the press.


                               

[ancients]

I had very fine help. 

[Kingsun]

I thought the title of this was "Alien Seduction Acts"....nevermind then. resume discussion. 

[phred]

I thought the title of this was "Alien Seduction Acts"....nevermind then. resume discussion.