Reading the Sedition Act of 1798 | A Primary Source Close Read w/ BRI

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!