Articles
Before the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Democratic-Republicans had spurred opposition on the Federalists. They were even supporting France amidst the French Revolution. Others felt that such a revolution would have been necessary to overthrow the US government. The European unrest was slowly bleeding over into the U.S. The country seemed ready to tear itself apart. The Federalists believed that the French and the French-sympathizing immigrants the cause of these. According to them, the two acts would guard against the threat of anarchy.
During the 5th U.S. Congress, the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. They were four bills, which President John Adams signed into law in 1798. The cause was the result of the French Revolution and their period of naval war with France. The Federalists had authored them, they hoped that they would strengthen the national security. However, critics felt that it was an attempt to suppress the voters who did not agree with the Federalist Party (Alan, 2004).
Among the Alien and Sedition Acts, there was the Naturalization Act. It increased the requirements for residency, for American citizenship. It would change from 5-14 years. The immigrants tended to favor the Democratic-Republicans, which led to the growth of their party. Hence, the Federalists were envious. The Alien Friends Act gave the President the mandate to deport or imprison all the aliens that the government considered dangerous.
There was also the Aliens Enemies Act, which dealt with any male citizen from a hostile nation (Berns, 1970).
Testimonial.
Thank you for the essay on ''Alien and Sedition Acts''. It was a lovely piece. Nuru, Drake University./p>
