Alien and Sedition Act

Alien and Sedition Acts

Open Ended

Explain whether you agree, disagree, or are neutral about the following quote:

American citizens should have the right to criticize their government because the first amendment guarantees a right to free speech with few restrictions.

Open Ended

Explain whether you agree, disagree, or are neutral about the following quote:

Immigrants residing in the United States should have the same exact rights as American citizens.

Open Ended

Explain whether you agree, disagree, or are neutral about the following quote:

During times of war, the government can do whatever is necessary to protect the American people, even suspend the civil rights of certain people.

​Part 1

​Foreign policy is a government’s strategy for dealing with other countries. As a young nation in the 1790s, America’s approach to foreign policy had largely been to stay out of other countries’ affairs and to not form alliances. When President Washington negotiated a trade agreement with Great Britain in 1794, other nations in the world were surprised - especially France. France felt America owed loyalty to the French, as they had come to the aid of Americans during the revolutionary war against Britain. Additionally, as a result of many lengthy wars with Great Britain and the French Revolution, France was in deep debt.

Multiple Choice

Foreign policy is . . . 

• How a country handles relationships with other countries

• Laws that apply to people living in the U.S. 

• How a country manages its resources

Multiple Choice

According to the text, U.S. foreign policy in the 1790s can be described as . . .

• Interventionist - getting involved in world affairs

• Isolationist - Staying out of world affairs

​Part 2

To support their economy, starting in approximately 1795, French navy and French privateers began the practice of impressment: seizing and stealing American trading vessels, their goods, and their sailors. This angered many Americans and left them afraid of France. Hoping to avoid war, President John Adams sent diplomats to France. During the meetings, French representatives known as X, Y, and Z demanded a bribe of $10 million. They also threatened the United States with the “power and violence of France.”

Fill in the Blanks

The practice of capturing a sailor and forcing them to join your military

​Part 3

Many Americans feared that war with France was around the corner. According to the 1790 census, there were approximately 11,200 French citizens living in the United States. By 1798, the French Revolution had taken hold in France causing many French citizens to flee to the United States; the number of French citizens living in the United States was estimated to have grown to 25,000. As rumors of French invasion and enemy spies living in the United States spread, fear took hold of the young American nation. In order to calm the fears of American citizens, Congress quickly passed laws in 1798 to make the United States more secure; these were known as the Alien and Sedition Acts.

Multiple Choice

The U.S. passed the Alien and Sedition Acts because . . . 

• The states were divided over military spending

• The economy was suffering

• A fear of French enemy spies living inside the U.S.

• Washington wanted to gain public support for his third term

​Alien and Sedition Act

​SECTION 1. Whenever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion...attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government...all natives or citizens of the hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be residing within the United States, and not American citizens, shall be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies….

Open Ended

Rewrite the Alien and Sedition Act in your own words: 

SECTION 1. Whenever there shall be a declared war between the United States and any foreign nation or government, or any invasion...attempted, or threatened against the territory of the United States, by any foreign nation or government...all natives or citizens of the hostile nation or government, being males of the age of fourteen years and upwards, who shall be residing within the United States, and not American citizens, shall be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies….

Possible Sentence Starter: When the United States is ___________________ with another 

country, all males ________________________ (age) who are ___________________________ 

_____________________ (where they are from) shall be _______________________________ 

(how they will be treated).