The Alien and Sedition Acts were a series of four laws passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress in 1798.
Summary of the Alien and Sedition Acts
Federalists contended that the laws were enacted to protect the United States from subversive aliens and seditious libel at a time when the federal government was preparing for a potential war with France. Other Americans, however, viewed the laws as attempts to stifle political opposition from the Democratic-Republican Party. The laws placed severe restrictions upon aliens, who often supported the Democratic-Republicans, and they made it illegal to utter any statements about the government that were “false, scandalous and malicious” with the “intent to defame” or to bring Congress or the president into “contempt or disrepute.” Ten American citizens, including a U.S. Congressman, were convicted of sedition, but the acts ultimately backfired on the Federalists, playing an instrumental role in their resounding defeats in the Presidential and Congressional election of 1800.