The Federalists used the outpouring of anti-French sentiment in America as an excuse to increase the nation's military defenses, a move intended to stifle internal political opposition as well as thwart French aggression. The extreme Federalists secured legislation to build up the army, even though there was no prospect of a French invasion, and American involvement across the ocean would have been the sheerest sort of folly. Washington was given nominal command, but Alexander Hamilton took over day-to-day control of the army and filled it with officers loyal to himself. All Hamilton needed was a declaration of war against France, but Adams refused to ask for one.
In order to thwart open criticism of their actions, but purportedly to protect American security, the Federalist Congress also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. The Acts were, in reality, Federalist measures designed to harass Republican spokesmen by disallowing criticism of the government. These blatantly political attempts to silence opposition ultimately proved counterproductive.
The Sedition Act stated in part:
If any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to be written, printed, uttered or published. . . any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the President of the United States, . . . or to stir up sedition within the United States, or to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law of the United States, . . . then such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.
The Alien Enemies Act and the Alien Act gave the president power to expel any foreigner deemed unfriendly to the United States. The Naturalization Act required immigrants to reside in the United States for fourteen years before becoming eligible for citizenship. The Sedition Act made it a crime to criticize the government, and led to federal courts being politicized, which in turn often led to their enforcing the law in absurd ways. Republicans were convinced that free government was on the brink of extinction. Although the Sedition Act was later declared unconstitutional and repealed, Republican newspaper editors and writers were fined or jailed. The Alien Acts were never used.
Jefferson and Madison responded to the Alien and Sedition Acts with the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798) The Kentucky Resolutions, written by Jefferson and passed by the state of Kentucky, claimed each state had the power to decide whether acts of Congress were constitutional and if not, to nullify them. Madison's Virginia Resolutions urged the states to protect their citizens but did not assert a state's right to nullify federal law. Jefferson and Madison were less interested in constitutional theory than in clarifying the differences between Republicans and Federalists.
The resolves were the first shot taken at the right of a state to nullify federal laws and were a step in the long-lasting battle over states' rights. Some threatened open rebellion if the acts were not repealed. Republicans could not take the case to court because they hated the courts and did not want to give them any more power. The situation was another example of the Constitution being seen as an experiment-far more fragile than we realize today. Nullification and even secession were spoken of long before the Civil War.
World History
