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John Adams: Administration and Events (Part II)

© John S. Cooper

Alien and Sedition Acts. The Federalists, a party primarily of the upper class, were alarmed at the growing power of the Democratic-Republicans that attracted the common man (farmers, and immigrants). To stem the growing numbers and power of the Democratic-Republicans, the Federalists passed three acts designed to preserve their power.

The Immigration Act raised the residency requirement for citizenship from five years to fourteen. This would prevent the mass of newly arrived immigrants (who, it was assumed, would vote for the Democratic-Republicans) from voting for an extra eight years. This would at least buy the Federalists some time.

The Alien Act gave the President the power to deport dangerous aliens (foreign born people, not little green men) without a trial. This was also designed to keep aliens from supporting and working for the Democratic-Republicans.

The Sedition Act made it illegal to criticize or ridicule the President or Congress. Newspaper editors printing anything bad about the President (a Federalist) or Congress (controlled by the Federalists) could be jailed. About a dozen editors were arrested and jailed under this act. The act did not include similar protection for the Vice President, who was a Democratic-Republican. Federalist editors were free to heap all the criticism they wanted on Thomas Jefferson, the Vice President, who was running against President Adams in the next election.

The Alien and Sedition Acts did not keep the Federalists in power. They lost the election of 1800 to the Democratic-Republicans. Actually, resentment over the Alien and Sedition Acts, especially the Sedition Act which greatly limited the right to free speech in spite of the First Amendment, worked against the Federalists.

Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. When the Federalist-controlled Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Democratic-Republicans responded with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions. The Democratic-Republican controlled legislatures in Kentucky and Virginia passed resolutions (non-binding declarations of opinion) condemning the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Virginia Resolution was authored by James Madison. The Kentucky Resolution was authored by Thomas Jefferson.

The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions stated the States' Rights Theory. According to this theory, the federal government was a creation of the sovereign states. The states, therefore, were the superior and they had the right to pass judgment on the actions of the federal government. A state, therefore, had the right to declare a law passed by congress to be unconstitutional, and therefore null and void and not in effect in that particular state. This was called nullification, and any state had the right to nullify a federal law.

President James Madison (1809-1817)

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