Chapter 3.0. Partisan Politics and Seditious Speech, Introduction
Three Federalist Administrations (1789-1801). Although James Madison described the role of “factions” in politics with great insight (see above, ch. 1.7), neither he nor any other of the leading founders foresaw the rise of nationwide political parties. Yet most of the leaders who dominated the federal government during the first three administrations, two under George Washington (1789-97) and one under John Adams (1797-1801), were strongly in the Federalist camp.
Hamilton and the Financial System. In particular, Alexander Hamilton, who served as the first Secretary of the Treasury (1789-95) put a federalist stamp on the national government through policies that included: the assumption and payment of Revolutionary war debts; the creation of the first Bank of the United States (1791-1811), which though based heavily on private finance helped to regulate the money supply and manage federal borrowing; the creation of tariffs on imports and an “excise” tax on whiskey distilling; and the 1794 Jay Treaty (signed Nov., 1794; ratified by the Senate in June, 1795), which re-established friendly relations with Great Britain as it was becoming more embroiled in conflicts with Revolutionary France.
Democratic-Republican Opposition. All of the above policies were unpopular with many people, especially those like James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and many former antifederalists, who favored limited government, who often tended to identify with America’s rural, agrarian tradition, and who feared being dominated by urban and northeastern commercial and financial interests. It was their shared opposition to those in power that gradually led to the emergence of America’s first nationwide political party, the Democratic-Republicans, also known as the Jeffersonian Republicans.
The Quasi-War with France (1798-1800). As conflict between Britain and France increased both nations sometimes interfered with or blocked American shipping. Under President John Adams, the American government strongly favored Britain, which angered Thomas Jefferson and other Democratic-Republicans, who tended to favor France and its anti-aristocratic Revolution. Moreover, the Adams administration refused to continue to pay debts it owed France for its aid during the American Revolution. The two countries waged an undeclared war, mostly at sea, from July, 1798, to October, 1800, which became known as the “quasi-war.”
The Alien and Sedition Acts. Thus in 1798 the United States stood on the brink of war with France. The Federalists believed that Democratic-Republican criticism of Federalist policies was disloyal and feared that aliens living in the United States would sympathize with the French during a war. As a result, a Federalist-controlled Congress passed four laws, known collectively as the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws raised the residency requirements for citizenship from 5 to 14 years, authorized the President to deport aliens, and permitted their arrest, imprisonment, and deportation during wartime. The Sedition Act made it a crime for American citizens to “print, utter, or publish . . . any false, scandalous, and malicious writing” about the Government.
The laws were directed against Democratic-Republicans, the party typically favored by new citizens, and the only journalists prosecuted under the Sedition Act were editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers. Sedition Act trials, along with the Senate’s use of its contempt powers to suppress dissent, set off a firestorm of criticism against the Federalists and contributed to their defeat in the election of 1800, after which the acts were repealed or allowed to expire. The controversies surrounding them, however, provided for some of the first testings of the limits of freedom of speech and press.
Source: The last two paragraphs above are taken from the National Archives’ website “Our Documents,” under the Alien and Sedition Acts.