The Resource The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin
The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin
Resource Information
The item The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Biddle Law Library - University of Pennsylvania Law School.This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
Resource Information
The item The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Biddle Law Library - University of Pennsylvania Law School.
This item is available to borrow from 1 library branch.
- Summary
-
- "In May 1798, after Congress released the XYZ Affair dispatches to the public, a raucous crowd took to the streets of Philadelphia. Some gathered to pledge their support for the government of President John Adams, others to express their disdain for his policies. Violence, both physical and political, threatened the safety of the city and the Union itself. To combat the chaos and protect the nation from both external and internal threats, the Federalists swiftly enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Oppressive pieces of legislation aimed at separating so-called genuine patriots from objects of suspicion, these acts sought to restrict political speech, whether spoken or written, soberly planned or drunkenly off-the-cuff. Little more than twenty years after Americans declared independence and less than ten since they ratified both a new constitution and a bill of rights, the acts gravely limited some of the very rights those bold documents had promised to protect. In The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Terri Diane Halperin discusses the passage of these laws and the furor over them, as well as the difficulties of enforcement. She describes in vivid detail the heated debates and tempestuous altercations that erupted between partisan opponents: one man pulled a gun on a supporter of the act in a churchyard; congressmen were threatened with arrest for expressing their opinions; and printers were viciously beaten for distributing suspect material. She also introduces readers to the fraught political divisions of the late 1790s, explores the effect of immigration on the new republic, and reveals the dangers of partisan excess throughout history. Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, Halperin's book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union"--
- "A blatantly partisan new immigration law. Legislation aimed to separate genuine patriots from objects of suspicion by restricting political speech--whether spoken or written and including both public remarks on a raised platform and drunken references outside a tavern. Fights on the floor of Congress, in one case involving a man who whipped fireplace tongs over his head as he went after an adversary. One may think of frenzied reaction to the September 2011 terrorist attacks or recent congressional quarrels over undocumented workers, health-care reform, or the budget deficit. But these things took place in 1798, when the new republic faced possible war with France over neutral rights on the high seas and the party of George Washington and President John Adams tried to crush the ungodly opposition of Madison, Jefferson, and the Irish. The Federalist-imposed Alien and Sedition acts threw into bright relief the forces that divided the country even in its early years, when most founders hoped and expected that the republic would escape factional (read party) strife. Halperin discusses passage of these acts and the furor over them in a way that introduces undergraduates to the situation at the time, the dangers of partisan excess at any time, and the impossibility of self-government without civil liberties. What do these legislative acts teach us about republican democracy?"--
- Language
- eng
- Label
- The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution
- Title
- The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
- Title remainder
- testing the Constitution
- Statement of responsibility
- Terri Diane Halperin
- Language
- eng
- Summary
-
- "In May 1798, after Congress released the XYZ Affair dispatches to the public, a raucous crowd took to the streets of Philadelphia. Some gathered to pledge their support for the government of President John Adams, others to express their disdain for his policies. Violence, both physical and political, threatened the safety of the city and the Union itself. To combat the chaos and protect the nation from both external and internal threats, the Federalists swiftly enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Oppressive pieces of legislation aimed at separating so-called genuine patriots from objects of suspicion, these acts sought to restrict political speech, whether spoken or written, soberly planned or drunkenly off-the-cuff. Little more than twenty years after Americans declared independence and less than ten since they ratified both a new constitution and a bill of rights, the acts gravely limited some of the very rights those bold documents had promised to protect. In The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Terri Diane Halperin discusses the passage of these laws and the furor over them, as well as the difficulties of enforcement. She describes in vivid detail the heated debates and tempestuous altercations that erupted between partisan opponents: one man pulled a gun on a supporter of the act in a churchyard; congressmen were threatened with arrest for expressing their opinions; and printers were viciously beaten for distributing suspect material. She also introduces readers to the fraught political divisions of the late 1790s, explores the effect of immigration on the new republic, and reveals the dangers of partisan excess throughout history. Touching on the major sedition trials while expanding the discussion beyond the usual focus on freedom of speech and the press to include the treatment of immigrants, Halperin's book provides a window through which readers can explore the meaning of freedom of speech, immigration, citizenship, the public sphere, the Constitution, and the Union"--
- "A blatantly partisan new immigration law. Legislation aimed to separate genuine patriots from objects of suspicion by restricting political speech--whether spoken or written and including both public remarks on a raised platform and drunken references outside a tavern. Fights on the floor of Congress, in one case involving a man who whipped fireplace tongs over his head as he went after an adversary. One may think of frenzied reaction to the September 2011 terrorist attacks or recent congressional quarrels over undocumented workers, health-care reform, or the budget deficit. But these things took place in 1798, when the new republic faced possible war with France over neutral rights on the high seas and the party of George Washington and President John Adams tried to crush the ungodly opposition of Madison, Jefferson, and the Irish. The Federalist-imposed Alien and Sedition acts threw into bright relief the forces that divided the country even in its early years, when most founders hoped and expected that the republic would escape factional (read party) strife. Halperin discusses passage of these acts and the furor over them in a way that introduces undergraduates to the situation at the time, the dangers of partisan excess at any time, and the impossibility of self-government without civil liberties. What do these legislative acts teach us about republican democracy?"--
- Assigning source
-
- Provided by publisher
- Provided by publisher
- Cataloging source
- DLC
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
- 1966-
- http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
- Halperin, Terri Diane
- Illustrations
-
- illustrations
- maps
- Index
- index present
- Literary form
- non fiction
- Nature of contents
- bibliography
- Series statement
- Witness to history
- http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
-
- United States.
- Alien and Sedition laws, 1798
- Seditious libel
- Freedom of expression
- Label
- The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Dimensions
- 23 cm.
- Extent
- 155 pages
- Isbn
- 9781421419688
- Lccn
- 2015034016
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- System control number
- (OCoLC)930364090
- Label
- The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin
- Bibliography note
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- Carrier category
- volume
- Carrier category code
-
- nc
- Carrier MARC source
- rdacarrier
- Content category
- text
- Content type code
-
- txt
- Content type MARC source
- rdacontent
- Dimensions
- 23 cm.
- Extent
- 155 pages
- Isbn
- 9781421419688
- Lccn
- 2015034016
- Media category
- unmediated
- Media MARC source
- rdamedia
- Media type code
-
- n
- System control number
- (OCoLC)930364090
Library Links
Embed
Settings
Select options that apply then copy and paste the RDF/HTML data fragment to include in your application
Embed this data in a secure (HTTPS) page:
Layout options:
Include data citation:
<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.law.upenn.edu/portal/The-Alien-and-Sedition-Acts-of-1798--testing-the/dngNZf-Oeow/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.law.upenn.edu/portal/The-Alien-and-Sedition-Acts-of-1798--testing-the/dngNZf-Oeow/">The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.law.upenn.edu/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.law.upenn.edu/">Biddle Law Library - University of Pennsylvania Law School</a></span></span></span></span></div>
Note: Adjust the width and height settings defined in the RDF/HTML code fragment to best match your requirements
Preview
Cite Data - Experimental
Data Citation of the Item The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin
Copy and paste the following RDF/HTML data fragment to cite this resource
<div class="citation" vocab="http://schema.org/"><i class="fa fa-external-link-square fa-fw"></i> Data from <span resource="http://link.law.upenn.edu/portal/The-Alien-and-Sedition-Acts-of-1798--testing-the/dngNZf-Oeow/" typeof="Book http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/Item"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a href="http://link.law.upenn.edu/portal/The-Alien-and-Sedition-Acts-of-1798--testing-the/dngNZf-Oeow/">The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 : testing the Constitution, Terri Diane Halperin</a></span> - <span property="potentialAction" typeOf="OrganizeAction"><span property="agent" typeof="LibrarySystem http://library.link/vocab/LibrarySystem" resource="http://link.law.upenn.edu/"><span property="name http://bibfra.me/vocab/lite/label"><a property="url" href="http://link.law.upenn.edu/">Biddle Law Library - University of Pennsylvania Law School</a></span></span></span></span></div>