Students should be able to explain the context of events and the constitutional theory that surrounded their passage. Students should be able to explain why the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed and to appraise their significance. What are the parallels with the controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts? Does understanding what happened in 1798 help us make informed decisions today? Students should relate current concerns on national security with the fierce debates that raged in the early national period. To explore the ways in which the issues raised by the Alien and Sedition Acts were instrumental in antebellum political conflicts, as well as today's issues.To explore the issues raised by the prosecutions under these acts and the larger constitutional issues they raised.To understand the provisions of the Alien and Sedition Acts within their political and constitutional contexts.The debate over the acts also bore the beginnings of the contest over federalism and states' rights. Democratic-Republicans charged that enforcement of the Sedition Act was intended to suppress the Republican opposition, and freedom of the press became an issue. The prosecutions under the Alien and Sedition Acts brought these conflicts into the realm of everyday, practical-and increasingly partisan-politics. The passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798 amid fears of war with France exacerbated the growing rift between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans.Īt the center were fundamental differences over the Constitution: whether its authority was based on broad, implied powers or limited in scope under strict interpretation. With the rise of political parties in the new nation, partisan conflict intensified over issues of economics, foreign policy, law, and domestic policy.
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