The Alien And Sedations Act

Submitted By MarkRavenDeLeon
Words: 539
Pages: 3

The American Dream Mark CrossWith Congress under control of Federalists during the 1790s, and because of several events such as the French Revolution, President John Adams passed several laws in hopes of strengthening national security. These acts were called the Alien and Sedations Act. The Aliens Act made it mandatory for possible immigrants to register to the Federal Government and gave the government power to deport them if they are considered to be dangerous. Whereas, the Sedations Act prevented anyone from speaking out anything that is considered to be bad for the Federal Government.
Granted that these had indeed protected the people from others who wanted to destroy the government as well as preventing possible lies relating to the government to be spread. Many people still felt as if this was not the best course of action to have been taken, because of it constricting the freedom and rights of the citizens. In response to the Alien and Sedations Act, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions written by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson respectively were passed. The Virginia Resolution written by James Madison in December 24, 1798 had said, “a power not delegated by the Constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; … because it is leveled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right.” In hopes for other states to agree with them. He argued that the Constitution was a compact and so allowed a state to determine whether any act of Congress was constitutional or not. Enabling any state to refuse the Act of Congress to be enforced within its limits, such as the Sedation act which had obviously violated the freedom of speech, reducing the power of the people making the Federal Government more powerful and controlling. The Kentucky Resolution written by Thomas Jefferson was ghostwritten for John Breckenridge as a result of Thomas