The Alien and Sedition Acts and the Election of 1800

Federalist John Adams, elected president in 1796, suppressed free speech under the Alien and Sedition Acts, at a time when America almost went to war with France. These laws raised the residency requirements for citizenship from 5 to 14 years; authorized the president to deport "aliens," or noncitizens; permitted their arrest, imprisonment, and deportation during wartime; and made it a crime for American citizens to "print, utter, or publish...any false, scandalous, and malicious writing" about the government.

Each side now feared that the other party would destroy the legacy of the American Revolution and deeply mistrusted the other. Jefferson was called a “dangerous atheist,” while Adams was considered “anti-Republican.”

The election of 1800 became so contentious that state militias were prepared to go to battle over the outcome. Federalist incumbent John Adams ran against Republican Thomas Jefferson. The extremely partisan and nasty campaign failed to provide a clear winner. Jefferson and his vice presidential running mate Aaron Burr accidentally received the same number of electoral votes for president, and the House of Representatives voted to break the tie in Jefferson's favor. When Adams’s Federalists attempted to keep Jefferson from the presidency, the stage was set for the first constitutional crisis of the new government.

When Jefferson was finally elected and inaugurated president, he addressed the nation by saying, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists.” Political parties were now a part of the American political system.

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Transcript

NARRATOR: By the time George Washington retired from the presidency in 1797, the country had split into factions, the first political parties: new President John Adams and Federalists such as Alexander Hamilton and John Marshall on one side, Vice President Thomas Jefferson and his new party on the other. Their differences seemed fundamental—and had widened as each side watched the democratically fueled French Revolution devolve into mass murder of the aristocracy.  

KLARMAN: For Marshall, the French Revolution was anarchy, attacking order, attacking property. Jefferson's response was, it's a good thing to spill a little blood every once in a while. You need to do that. A little revolution is a good thing. It shakes people up.   

NARRATOR: Federalists didn't intend to let unchecked democracy—the mad passions of the people—threaten their fragile new republic. To hold the mob in check, they championed a stout national government led by the educated and landed elite.   

SIMON: Jefferson believed that the Federalists represented a new monarchy, not much different from that which we'd declared our independence from in Great Britain.   

YOUNG: When Hamilton said, "I think we need a standing army," the Jeffersonians immediately assumed the worst. What are you gonna use this army for? To oppress us? To draw all power to yourself?

NARRATOR: The Federalists had, in fact, consolidated their power in government. They controlled the executive branch and the Congress and had appointed each and every federal judge.  

From his Virginia plantation, Vice President Jefferson began running an all-out insurgency against the ruling party—a "second revolution," he called it. He meant to ride people power to the presidency. As Jefferson stirred dissent, visions of the French Revolution danced in Federalist heads.  

POST: Jefferson was known for his francophile leanings. And there was real concern that there would be bloodshed in, in Washington, um, if Jefferson came in. And you know, heads would roll, um, almost literally.

GORDON-REED: You could look back at and say it was ridiculous to think that Jefferson was going to lead a revolution that led to bloodshed. But at the moment, things were pretty much up for grabs.  

NARRATOR: The politics of the day were partisan...and ugly. And there was no precedent or tradition that demanded the judicial branch steer clear. Federalist-appointed lower court judges enforced the plainly unconstitutional Sedition Act, tossing Jeffersonian pamphleteers and politicians in jail for merely criticizing President Adams.   

And as the election of 1800 neared, many of those judges campaigned openly against Thomas Jefferson. Then the Jeffersonians won ... big.   

Jefferson took the White House from Adams, and his party men swept into majorities in the House and the Senate.

Watch the video to learn more about the divisions between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans. Then, answer the questions.

The Alien and Sedition Acts and the Election of 1800

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