HST 3401 Primary Document Analysis Form
Your name: Yevgeniya Erdyniyeva
Class section: Mn-Wed 5
Date: 10/25/15
Document title: Alien and Sedition Acts
Date of document: November 13th, 1797
Author(s): Fifth Congress of the US , John Adams
1.Two or three biographical sentences describing author(s):
The Alien and Sedition Acts were four bills that were passed by the Federalists in the 5th United States Congress and signed into law by President John Adams in 1798(John Adams became the second president of the United States of America in 1797)
2.What was the historical context in which the author(s)wrote the document?
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed during a time of great tension due to a possible war with France. Fighting between…show more content… Three things the author said or wrote that you think are important:
a) «That it shall be lawful for the President of the United States at any time during the continuance of this act, to order all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States, or shall have reasonable grounds to suspect are concerned in any treasonable or secret machinations against the government thereof, to depart out of the territory of the United Slates»
The Alien Friends Act authorized the President to punish any non-citizen. This law could have resulted in the mass expulsion of new immigrants; however, this act did not specify any particular findings upon which it was based. From this point, President Adams and the Federalist had reason to believe that they had to protect their country from external troubles.
b)«During the war, all natives, citizens, denizens, or subjects of the hostile nation shall be liable to be apprehended, restrained, secured and removed, as alien enemies»
In this quote, Alien enemies act allowed the President to arrest and deport any person in the USA; I believe that the legislation gave too much power to the President. This theme centered on the issue of leaving the law up to the President to decide how and when to dispose of
