- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One
- I. 1790: Secretary Jefferson and the Foreign Affairs Power
- II. 1791: The National Bank and the Point of Interpretation
- III. 1793: The Supreme Court and the Metaphysics of Sovereignty
- IV. 1794: <i>Kamper v. Hawkins</i> and the Role of the Judiciary
- V. 1798 (1): Justice Paterson and the Missing Fundamental Principle
- Part Two
- VI. 1798 (2): How to Think about the Sedition Act
- VII. 1800: Marshall and the Role of the Political Branches
- VIII. 1802: How Not to Think about the Judiciary Repeal Act
- IX. 1804: <i>Turpin v. Locket</i> and the Place of Religion
- X. 1806: <i>Hudgins v. Wright</i> and the Place of Slavery
- XI. 1808–1809: A Forgotten Crossroads in Constitutional History
- Part Three
- XII. 1817: President Madison Vetoes His Own Bill
- XIII. 1818: The Congress Thinks about Internal Improvements
- XIV. 1821: The Attorney General and the Rule of Law
- XV. 1829: Writing <i>State v. Mann</i>
- Part Four
- XVI. 1859: The Supreme Court and the Metaphysics of Supremacy
- XVII. 1862: Four Attorneys General and the Meaning of Citizenship
- XVIII. 1873: <i>Slaughterhouse</i> Revisited
- XIX. 1904: Clay May, the Railroad, and Justice Holmes
- XX. 1927: Justice Brandeis and the Final End of the State
- XXI. 1944: Constitutional Injustice
- Part Five
- XXII. 2002: Common Ground after Two Centuries
- Conclusion
- Index
1798 (2): How to Think about the Sedition Act
1798 (2): How to Think about the Sedition Act
- Chapter:
- (p.55) VI. 1798 (2): How to Think about the Sedition Act
- Source:
- A Community Built on Words
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
The central point of contention in national politics during 1798 involved foreign policy. Revolutionary France's overbearing and erratic behavior had brought Franco-American relations to the breaking point, with the generally Francophile Republicans divided and disheartened, and many of the Federalists convinced that the Republic was in mortal peril of a French invasion or subversion from within. In the spring and summer following Calder, the Federalist-controlled Congress took under consideration a battery of laws intended, as Federalists saw it, to put the country in an appropriate state of defense. Among the bills eventually enacted was the famous (or infamous) Sedition Act of July 14, 1798, which prompted the first great debate over the interpretation of the first amendment. (Collectively the statutes were known as the Alien and Sedition Acts and one of the other laws, the Alien Act of June 25, also evoked significant constitutional discussions.)
Keywords: Sedition Act, foreign policy, Franco-American relations, French invasion, subversion, first amendment
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part One
- I. 1790: Secretary Jefferson and the Foreign Affairs Power
- II. 1791: The National Bank and the Point of Interpretation
- III. 1793: The Supreme Court and the Metaphysics of Sovereignty
- IV. 1794: <i>Kamper v. Hawkins</i> and the Role of the Judiciary
- V. 1798 (1): Justice Paterson and the Missing Fundamental Principle
- Part Two
- VI. 1798 (2): How to Think about the Sedition Act
- VII. 1800: Marshall and the Role of the Political Branches
- VIII. 1802: How Not to Think about the Judiciary Repeal Act
- IX. 1804: <i>Turpin v. Locket</i> and the Place of Religion
- X. 1806: <i>Hudgins v. Wright</i> and the Place of Slavery
- XI. 1808–1809: A Forgotten Crossroads in Constitutional History
- Part Three
- XII. 1817: President Madison Vetoes His Own Bill
- XIII. 1818: The Congress Thinks about Internal Improvements
- XIV. 1821: The Attorney General and the Rule of Law
- XV. 1829: Writing <i>State v. Mann</i>
- Part Four
- XVI. 1859: The Supreme Court and the Metaphysics of Supremacy
- XVII. 1862: Four Attorneys General and the Meaning of Citizenship
- XVIII. 1873: <i>Slaughterhouse</i> Revisited
- XIX. 1904: Clay May, the Railroad, and Justice Holmes
- XX. 1927: Justice Brandeis and the Final End of the State
- XXI. 1944: Constitutional Injustice
- Part Five
- XXII. 2002: Common Ground after Two Centuries
- Conclusion
- Index
