![]() An Act respecting alien enemies of July 6, 1798, "Alien Enemies Act".An Act concerning aliens of June 25, 1798, "Alien Act".An Act supplementary to and to amend the act, intituled, "An Act to establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and to repeal the act therefore passed on that subject" of June 18, 1798, "Naturalization Act of 1798". ![]() Note: The Alien and Sedition Acts consist of the following acts: The controversies surrounding them, however, provided for some of the first tests of the limits of freedom of speech and press. Sedition Act trials, along with the Senate's use of its contempt powers to suppress dissent, set off a firestorm of criticism against the Federalists and contributed to their defeat in the election of 1800, after which the acts were repealed or allowed to expire. The only journalists prosecuted under the Sedition Act were editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers. The laws were directed against Democratic-Republicans, the party typically favored by new citizens. The Sedition Act made it a crime for American citizens to "print, utter, or publish.any false, scandalous, and malicious writing" about the government. These laws raised the residency requirements for citizenship from 5 to 14 years, authorized the president to deport "aliens," and permitted their arrest, imprisonment, and deportation during wartime. The Federalist Party, which advocated for a strong central government, believed that Democratic-Republican criticism of Federalist policies was disloyal and feared that "aliens," or non-citizens, living in the United States would sympathize with the French during a war.Īs a result, a Federalist-controlled Congress passed four laws, known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts. In 1798, the United States stood on the brink of war with France.
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