Security vs. Liberty: The Alien and Sedition Acts

Rosie Jayde Uyola
Oct 13
4 min read

Learning Target: I can explain how the Alien and Sedition Acts led to a constitutional crisis by analyzing the conflict between national security and the First Amendment rights of citizens.

Key Vocabulary

Alien: A foreigner, someone who is not a citizen.
Sedition: Words or actions that encourage people to rebel against the government.
Nullify: To cancel a law. The idea that a state could cancel a federal law it thought was unfair.
States' Rights: The belief that states should have powers that are separate from the federal government.
Unconstitutional: When a law breaks the rules laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

Part 1: Do Now (5 minutes)

Directions: Read the prompt below and write a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences) on the lines provided.

Prompt: Imagine the government passes a law that makes it illegal to post "false or mean" things about the President or Congress online. The government says this law is to stop hate speech and keep the country united.

Do you agree or disagree with this law? Explain your thinking. What are the good things that could come from this law? What are the dangers?

Optional Sentence Starters:

I agree with this law because...
I disagree with this law because...
A potential benefit of this law is..., but a potential danger is...

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Part 2: Primary Source Documents – A Nation in Conflict

Directions: Read the original texts from 1798 in the left column. Use the Simplified Meaning in the right column to help you understand the main arguments.

Original Text (1798)	Simplified Meaning
Source 1: The Sedition Act	Source 1: The Sedition Act
"if any person shall write, print, utter or publish... any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the Congress... or the President... with intent to defame the said government... or to bring them... into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them... the hatred of the good people of the United States..."	"If anyone writes or publishes... any false, scandalous, or mean-spirited things against the U.S. government, Congress, or the President... with the goal of damaging their reputation... or making people hate them..."
Source 2: The Virginia Resolutions	Source 2: The Virginia Resolutions
"That the General Assembly of Virginia, doth utterly protest against the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, in the two late cases of the 'Alien and Sedition Acts'..."	"The government of Virginia is officially protesting this obvious and scary violation of the Constitution, which we see in the Alien and Sedition Acts..."
"That this state... expressly declared, that among other essential rights, 'the Liberty of Conscience and of the Press cannot be cancelled, abridged, restrained, or modified by any authority of the United States,'... the 'Sedition Act,' ought to be declared null and void..."	"This state has already declared that essential rights, like 'Freedom of Religion and the Press,' cannot be canceled or limited by the U.S. government... therefore, the Sedition Act should be canceled..."
"...a power not delegated by the Constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; a power, which more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm; because it is levelled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures..."	"...the government is taking a power it was not given in the Constitution. In fact, an amendment to the Constitution specifically forbids it. This should be alarming, because this law attacks the right of citizens to freely criticize public officials and their actions..."

Part 3: Analysis Task (10 minutes)

Directions: Based on the documents, complete the T-Chart below. Then, discuss the question that follows with your partner.

Optional Sentence Starters for your T-Chart:

A reason to support the Act is that it was meant to stop...
A reason to oppose the Act is that it violated the right to...

Reasons to SUPPORT the Sedition Act	Reasons to OPPOSE the Sedition Act
What was the law's main purpose? What was it trying to stop?	What were the main constitutional complaints against the law?

Turn and Talk: When you talk with your partner, discuss this: The Virginia Resolutions mention an "amendment" to the Constitution. Which freedom or right do they believe is being violated? HOW do you know? Write down what both you and your partner shared.

Part 4: Exit Ticket – You are the Judge! (5 minutes)

Directions: Read the prompt below and write a complete paragraph (5-8 sentences) on the lines provided.

Your Role: A Supreme Court Judge in 1798.

Your Task: Decide if the Sedition Act is constitutional (follows the rules of the Constitution) or unconstitutional (breaks the rules). In a paragraph, state your decision and defend it with one piece of evidence from EACH side (the Act and the Resolutions).

Optional Sentence Starters:

As a Supreme Court Justice, I rule that the Sedition Act is...
I believe it is [constitutional / unconstitutional] because the law itself says..., but its critics in the Virginia Resolutions argue that...
Based on the evidence, my final decision is... because...