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Alien And Sedition Acts Dbq Analysis

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Primary Document Analysis: Alien and Sedition Acts
Along with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions The Alien and Sedition Acts were signed by then-President John Adams on June 18, 1798, roughly eleven years after the signing of the current U.S. Constitution. It was done during a time of heightened tensions between the United States and European countries. These four new laws were designed to give new powers to the President regarding immigrants, also known as aliens. It was not long after the enforcement of these laws that dispute arose from them. All fifty U.S. states were trying to grasp these laws and figure out what do about them. People quickly thought that the four laws were unconstitutional, and something had to be done about it. …show more content…

The Act was dealing with crimes against the United States condemning people who opposed the government in any way, whether they conspired with several people or just one. With that, the law continued with stating that people weren’t allowed to say, publish, or do any other form that would go against the federal government. It goes through a long list of things not permitted. Along with this, the Naturalization Act was created. The Naturalization Act made it take longer before immigrants could vote. It was stated in UShistory.com’s the webpage “Alien and Sedition Acts” that instead of it being five years to vote, they would have to wait until fourteen years to …show more content…

Drafted by Thomas Jefferson, the Kentucky Resolution agreed with what Madison said in the Virginia Resolution on the fact that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. Jefferson also thought that measures are needed to address this situation. His suggestion was to allow States to nullify laws. If they nullified laws, they are essentially getting rid of laws enforced by Congress that they feel are unconstitutional. Nothing was really done to address the Alien and Sedition Acts until Thomas Jefferson was elected President in 1801. Under his authority, much of Alien and Sedition Acts were discarded. According to History.com’s web article “Alien and Sedition Acts” during future wars, the Sedition Act seemed to come back to

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