Alien And Sedition DBQ

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Recommended: Prompts on the alien and sedition acts

The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed by the Federalist-controlled Congress in 1798 before America prepared for war against France. The acts increased the amount of time from 5 years to 14 years of living in America to become a citizen of the U.S. It forced the president to imprison or deport illegal aliens because of dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States” and restricted the freedom of speech against the government. These laws were passed to weaken the Democratic-Republican Party. Negative reaction happened when the people of the United States did not agree with these acts, which helped the Democratic-Republican Party win the 1800 presidential election. Only one act was repealed (The Naturalization Act) in 1802, all the rest were allowed to expire. These acts differ from the others in that the Alien and Sedition acts were really used to get people out of the country and keep them out, instead of keeping the people safe. I think the idea of these acts were reasonable in the aspect of all the illegal immigrants coming into the nation at the time. I do not agree with the …show more content…

The acts made it illegal to “ disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language” about the Constitution, the government, the American Uniform, or the flag. Over the course of the acts reign, it prosecuted over 2,100 people. These acts compared to the others took away the freedom of speech that americans deserve. The government really took control of what the people could say or do with these acts unlike the other acts that were looking out for the American people. I agree with the government trying to build support for WW1, but I really hate that they took the freedom of speech away from the people to say what they want about the government or war. I feel that even in times of great sorrow, the American people should still be given all their rights no matter the

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