Essay On The Alien And Alien Acts Of 1798

The Republican were a political party founded and led by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The Republicans believed and supported everything that the Federalist didn’t. While the Federalists were for the National Bank and the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Republicans were not. These were some of the main reasons that the national leaders broke into two groups.
The Republicans disliked the idea of a National Bank. The Republicans believed in following a strict interpretation of the constitution, and believed that the creation of a National Bank was unconstitutional. Nowhere in the constitution did it give the national government the power to establish a bank. As Jefferson mentions in the “Debate on the First National Bank”, “the incorporation

of a bank, and the powers assumed by this bill, have not, in my opinion, been delegated to the United States, by the Constitution”. Another reason the Republicans were against a National Bank was because the Republican knew the National Bank would favor the north over the south. The National Bank was first proposed by Hamilton who was a Federalist. Federalist supporters were wealthy businessmen who lived up north, while Republican supporters were small agricultural farmers who lived down south. Overall, the Republicans knew the National Bank would be more a help to the wealthy men up north; rather than the farmers down south.
Since the Republicans were ‘Pro- French’ they fully disagreed with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.

The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 consisted of four parts; the Naturalization Act, the Alien Act, the Alien Enemies Acts and the Sedition. The Naturalization Act increased the residency time to fourteen years before citizenship was granted. At the time this act passed because congress was suspicious of French immigrants, and wanted citizens to prove their loyalty to the nation. The Alien Act allowed the president to deport ‘dangerous’ foreigners who he thought would corrupt the “peace and safety of the united states”, or those he thought were plotting any “treasonable or secret machinations against the government”. This act primarily aimed at getting rid of French refugees who opposed the war with France. The Sedition Act made it crime to speak out or write negatively about politicians, the federal government, federal laws. If one did so they would be punished. According to the “Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798”, they would be both fines and imprisoned. The Republicans didn’t agree with this act, and felt like it violated the First Amendment’s Prohibition against “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press”. Both the Alien and Sedition Acts were primarily aimed at those who followed and led the Republican Party. The Alien Enemies Act allowed the United States government to arrest imprison and deport any citizen of a nation that was at war with the United

Sates.
The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 were political statements that were drafted in 1798 and 1799, where Kentucky and Virginia legislatures declared that the Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. They felt that as long as an act wasn’t authorized by the constitution, the states should have the right to declare it unconstitutional. Because the Republicans favored a weak central government they favored the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, as it would give the states more power.
Overall, the Republicans and the Federalist had different views on the way the United States should have been run. The Federalists were for the National Bank and the Alien and Sedition Acts, the Republicans were not. The Republicans believed in following a strict interpretation of the constitution, and believed that the creation of a National Bank was unconstitutional.