John Adams was not a “War President”: he did not lead the country through war as Commander in Chief. However, much of his administration was devoted to avoiding war. The 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, viewed then by some and now by most as a serious challenge to the First Amendment, were signed into law by Adams, who maintained that “national defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman.” He did not ask for the controversial sedition law that limited freedom of speech and press, but believed, as Congress did, that provisions facilitating the deportation of foreign nationals and the discouragement of newspaper dissent would help strengthen the United States in the event of war with France. Adams achieved his goal of keeping the US out of war, but history has condemned his decision to sign and enforce this series of laws.

In the first installment of this two-part close reading on Sedition Acts, BRI staff members Joshua Schmid and Tony Williams discuss the highly controversial Sedition Act of 1798, which arrived at a particularly tumultuous time in American history. In light of growing diplomatic tension between the United States and France, President John Adams and the Federalists feared that if war were to ultimately break out, the Jeffersonians would be disloyal towards America​. For this reason, the Sedition Act severely limited people’s ability to freely and publicly criticize the American government. Join Tony and Joshua as they explore the important constitutional implications of this first Sedition Act for the young republic!

In 1918, the Sedition Act of 1918, which amended the Espionage Act of 1917, was enacted. This Wilson-era Act imposed harsh freedom-of-speech restrictions in order to sustain domestic war propaganda and suppress public opposition to the war. They were upheld by the Supreme Court and remained in place until 1921. In this dialogue, Tony and Joshua discuss the importance of staying vigilant against government violations of free expression; should wartime circumstances change the types of free-speech protections that are afforded to Americans under the First Amendment?