Several factors influenced the passage of the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts ASA, these being (1) the newness of the Constitution, (2) the lack of a two-party tradition, (3) Federalist opportunism, (4) fear of France, (5) Republican invective, and (6) nativism (Youngman, 2003). Composed of four statutes, the ASA was created in order to discourage opposing views and actions against that of the governments (Youngman, 2003). The rationale for the creation of the ASA however showed that the mandates of the ASA can be used by a government with a relatively short history to curtail the liberties of its people.
Due to the newness of the American Constitution during the creation of the ASA, the parameters of free speech were yet to be fully defined during the period. As a result of this, criticism and opposing words against the government were then qualified as seditious acts. This condition, one which does not tolerate criticisms against the government, may also be attributed to the lack of a two-party tradition in the American government during the initial period of the 18th century. Such is the case since due to the lack of another party in the government the citizens as well as the members of the government were not used to the existence of criticisms within its ranks. Such a condition however changed as a result of the creation of the Republican and Federalist parties as both parties analyzed and criticized what they considered to be the irrational actions of the other party. The fear of the French Army was however utilized by Federalist opportunists in order to quell the invectives of the Republican Party as they argued that in order to avoid foreign domination and civil strife, the shrill denunciations of the opposition must be put down (Youngman, 2003, p.131). Coupled with nativism which refers to the belief that the only good American was native-born American, the ASA, with a specific emphasis on the Alien Act, was implemented in the United States.
Due to the newness of the American Constitution during the creation of the ASA, the parameters of free speech were yet to be fully defined during the period. As a result of this, criticism and opposing words against the government were then qualified as seditious acts. This condition, one which does not tolerate criticisms against the government, may also be attributed to the lack of a two-party tradition in the American government during the initial period of the 18th century. Such is the case since due to the lack of another party in the government the citizens as well as the members of the government were not used to the existence of criticisms within its ranks. Such a condition however changed as a result of the creation of the Republican and Federalist parties as both parties analyzed and criticized what they considered to be the irrational actions of the other party. The fear of the French Army was however utilized by Federalist opportunists in order to quell the invectives of the Republican Party as they argued that in order to avoid foreign domination and civil strife, the shrill denunciations of the opposition must be put down (Youngman, 2003, p.131). Coupled with nativism which refers to the belief that the only good American was native-born American, the ASA, with a specific emphasis on the Alien Act, was implemented in the United States.
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