Alien And Sedition Act Negative Consequences

In 1798, President John Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts containing three parts: the Alien, Sedition, and Naturalization Acts. The Alien Act allowed the president to deport any immigrant that he found dangerous to the nation; the Sedition Act made it a crime to criticize the government; and the Naturalization Act lengthened the citizenship process. All of these acts were repealed by 1802 due to all of their negative impacts and influence on society. The Alien and Sedition Acts adversely impacted the nation through the deprivation of human rights, leading to protests. The acts took away the rights declared in the first amendment: freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Additionally, the Alien and Sedition Acts formed a gap between

This treaty allowed the United States and Great Britain to trade in the middle of the French Revolutionary War, thus, angering France, which lead them to attack American ships. Three Diplomats were then sent to France to negotiate with three agents but the agents only tried to bribe the diplomats. However, the diplomats would not except the bribe. Congress wanted war but President Adams did not want war, instead, he wanted to expand the military. Congress stopped trading with France and any alliance they had with them and tripled the size of the army. The new navy fought back to France and America seized almost 90 ships, thus leading to the French Revolution and the Quasi War. After these battles with France, the Federalists were in charge of Congress. Democractic-Republicans did not want to follow federal laws and others called for secession. These events all led to the signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts (History 1). However, the Republicans were against these acts and argued that states had the right to nullify a federal law, leading to the creation of The Virgina and Kentucky Resolutions, which said that states have the power to choose which federal laws they want to follow. Since it was said that the states voluntarily joined the union, they could devide that the federal government went over its borders and pick and choose what federal laws they want to follow (United States History 1). The Alien and Sedition Acts severely detracted from natural rights, such as the freedom of speech. When the first ten amendments were ratified, citizens were promised the freedom of speech, allowing all humans to give their opinion about the government without punishment. The Alien and Sedition Acts, however, prohibited anybody from speaking negatively about the government. Berns, an American constitutional law and political philosophy