On July 14, 1798, Congress passed the infamous Sedition Act. The law made it illegal for individuals to voice or print statements that criticized the United States government. Fourteen individuals were prosecuted under this act, some of which were imprisoned.
The Sedition Act was part of a series of legislation that restricted individual liberty. The other laws limited the rights of immigrants, granting the president deportation power and extending the required residency period from five to fourteen years for those seeking citizenship.
The response to these acts was unprecedented and marked the first prominent attempt at nullification. Future Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison secretly drafted the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, where they declared the laws in violation of the First and Tenth Amendments. Therefore, they deemed them invalid.
While they did not resonate at a widespread scale, the resolutions had a profound impact on the ideas of American federalism and state’s rights. The resolutions are widely credited with the introduction of the “doctrine of nullification”, the idea that states have the ability to invalidate federal laws that are unconstitutional.
225 years later, the Sedition Act and the opposition that followed provide important lessons for American government today. These events demonstrate the fragility of the nation in its early years, as the framers of the Constitution debated the proper role of government and the balance of power in the nation – conversations that continue to this day.
