Alien and Sedition Acts

Cultural  

1. A series of laws, passed during the presidency of John Adams at the end of the eighteenth century, that sought to restrict the public activities of political radicals who sympathized with the French Revolution and criticized Adams's Federalist policies. In response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, which asserted states' rights.

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Example Sentences

John Adams pushed Congress in 1798 to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts, measures that allowed the government to deport and otherwise persecute critics of the administration.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

In 1800 you have James Madison unambiguously writing, in the context of the Alien and Sedition Acts, that “invasion is an operation of war.”

From Slate • Mar. 20, 2025

The law is the only survivor of the Alien and Sedition Acts.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 24, 2024

In 1800, Thomas Jefferson charged John Adams with acting like a king when he expanded federal power and passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which effectively made it a crime to criticize the government.

From Salon • Dec. 11, 2023

In fact, the Virginia Resolutions described the Alien and Sedition Acts as “alarming infractions” of the Constitution that violated the free speech guarantees of the First Amendment.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis