Compare And Contrast The Alien And Sedition Act

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The Alien and Sedition Act were enacted to make the United States more secure from foreign spies and domestic traitors (Defining America, n.d.), due to the result of the hostility between the United States and France (Outline, pg. 82). The Alien Act gave the President the authority to detain, imprison or expel aliens (immigrants) in the time of war or peace (Outline, pg. 82), which President Adams felt was needed because “foreign influence within the United States was dangerous and must be exterminated” (Alien and Sedition Act, n.d.). Moreover, the Sedition Act proscribed writing, speaking or publishing anything of false, scandalous and malicious in nature against the President or Congress (Outline, pg. 82). Although, both the Alien and Sedition