Alien And Sedition Acts

162 Words1 Pages
Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts to prepare for war with France. There was an increase in required residency for American citizenship to five to fourteen years, it was required for aliens to state their intention five years before citizenship is granted, and rendered people from enemy nations ineligible for naturalization. The Sedition Act banned the publishing of writings that were offensive to the government. The acts were conceived to limit the power of Republicans by the Federalists. But when Thomas Jefferson was elected president enforcement ended of the acts. However, during later wars, acts were revived. I disagree with the purpose of the acts because even though nations may have conflict and disagree with each other,