The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798

In 1796, France increased its attacks on American ships setting off a series of naval conflicts called the Quasi-War. President John Adams sent a mission to France to try to resolve the conflict, but France demanded bribes and a loan as preconditions for negotiations. The XYZ Affair set off war fever in the United States, and what had been a naval conflict threatened to expand into a full-scale war. When the details of the XYZ Affair became public, President Adams and the Federalist majority in Congress prepared for war against enemies both foreign and domestic. They expanded the army and navy, fortified ports and harbors, and raised taxes to pay for it, and then passed the most infamous laws of the era –the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, the book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union.

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