DBQ - Alien and Sedition Acts
"The debate over the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 revealed bitter controversies on a number of issues. Discuss the issues involved and explain why these controversies developed." The Alien and Sedition acts of 1798 were a consequence of many troubles the United States was having at the time. Just emerging into the world under President George Washington, their foreign policy was not enough to support themselves yet. The United States needed to make sure that there would be no foreign threat to them and to do so, they made a strict isolationist policy that was almost broken by the French call for aid during the French Revolution and later by the French reprisal for not answering their demands. The United States pulled through but with difficulty and in order to make sure that they stayed isolated from the rest of the world, they had to make sure that no immigrants would become powerful enough to change their views and go into politics and that the media would not interfere with government affairs by slandering them and writing anything against the government. This brought about the Alien and Sedition Acts which were criticized from the moment they were passed in the summer of 1798 to the m
Adams had to do something and what he chose to do was pass the four acts known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. When Adam's became president Americans started to get angry by reports that US merchant ships were being seized by French warships. One the Federalists were pro-British, they disliked the French and wanted to aid Britain against the French, people like Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. They made it 14 years required for immigrants to qualify for US citizenship, they authorized the president to deport any aliens considered dangerous and made it illegal for newspaper editors to criticize either the president or Congress. Even though Washington opposed political parties in his farewell address (Doc H) they still formed and they fought each other for power. Unfortunately, the US and the French monarchy had an alliance, not the US and the French people so helping the French people was breaking the alliance with France, also the British were taking American ships that were sailing to France, so helping France would cause Britain and the US to be enemies. The US gained much power through this and the French grew angry that they did not help their cause. Therefore when the French began to become hostile to the US, there was a major outbreak between the American people and inside the government. The debate over the Alien and Sedition Acts revealed that the controversies were between the parties, but it also revealed the controversies between entering the war on the French side, the British side or staying neutral, and it also showed how the Americans were conflicted on their views of government and its powers. Since the Democratic-Republicans held most of their power from the immigrants that were coming into the country, this weakened them drastically and they fought back. They also sent Pinckney to Spain to negotiate after Spain grew angry that Jay was sent to Britain, there longtime foe. As the US sought to better its foreign position, they sent Chief Justice John Jay to Britain to discuss the impressing of American sailors to the British navy and the seizing of American merchant ships. As the political parties slowly formed, Thomas Jefferson warned many of the growing threat of the aristocratic and pro-British federalists (Doc E, G) and therefore decided to join the other party, the pro-French Democratic-Republican (Doc F). Thomas Jefferson's warnings reached out to many, and the nation began to really split, citizens were either from one party or the other and the two parties didn't mix (Doc S).
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