Perilous Times Outline1. The Half War with Francea. The federalists enacted the sedition act of 1798, perhaps the most grievous assault on free speech in our history. The act prohibited any person from writing, publishing, or uttering anything of “false, scandalous and malicious” nature against the government of the US. i. Mathew Lyon became the first person indicted under the sedition act of 1798.ii. They XYZ affair was the reason for tensions between the US and France. US representatives John Marshall and 2 others to Paris to negotiate with France, butthe French demanded that a huge loan and bribe be given to France in order for the US representatives to get through the door. This outraged Adams and the US public found out and were also outraged. Adams established the army and navy at this time for defense purposes. Never before had the US had a standing army or navy in a time of peace. Republicans argued that this was an unnecessary violation of the constitution, but Adams and his fellow federalists proceeded and then condemned any speech that was negative toward his actions as president with the sedition act of 1798 which was meant to cripple the republicans. iii. The federalists also feared the rapidly growing foreign population and thus enacted the Alien Enemies Act which states that in case of a declared war, citizens or subjects of an enemy nation residing in the US could be detained, confined, or deported at the direction of the president. This new power was written to expire on the last day of Adams’ term so the republicans would not gain such extraordinary power if they won the next election. The non-citizen had no right to a trial and no right to even be informed of any charges against him.1. This is a blatant violation of the constitution, which not only allows the right to a trial by jury, but also the writ of habeas corpus and the right todue process of law. 2. It was understood by federalist that if you give any set of men the command of the press, you give them the command of the countryb. The sedition act:1. “that if any person shall write, print, utter or publish…any false, scandalous, and milieus writing or writings against the government of the United States, or either house of the congress of the united states, or the president of the united states, with intent to defame them, or bring then into contempt or disrepute; or to exited them against the hatred of good people of the US. Then such person shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $2,000 and by imprisonment not exceeding 2 years.ii. The essence of this challenge was that the threat of punishment for ‘false and malicous’ statements can easily be manipulated to chill the willingness of printers and others to criticize the government.c. 3 major questions arose during depates over seditious libeli. Must the government prove that the defendant maliciously intended to cause sedition, or was it sufficient for the government to prove that speech had a seditious had a seditious tendency?ii. Second, was the truth a defense?iii. Third, who should determine whether the publication was seditious- judge or jury? (they concluded judges, which were quick to pass judgment based on a biased opinion of the party who put them in power- federalist)d. The Lyon Casei. Lyon published a letter in Spooner’s Vermont Journal explaining why he rejected the principle of presidential infallibility. In his letter, Lyon sharply criticized John Adams and his administration, declaring that under president Adams ‘every consideration of the public welfare’ was ‘swallowed up in a continual grasp for power.’ Although the letter was published before Adams signed the sedition act,lyon read it to several audiences after the act was signed in his campaign speeches. ii. Lyon’s accused federalists in his newspaper of falsehood, and in October of 1798the federal circuit court convened. iii. Lyon was indicted for sedition, and sentenced to 4 months in jail and fined over $1,000, but he was re-elected from his jail cell.e. The Cooper Casei. Cooper wrote an essay sharply criticizing Adams and his administration. It implied that Adams was a power-mad despot and an enemy of the rights of man. Adams told Thomas Pickering that cooper ought to be prosecuted for publishing the statement.ii. Cooper was charged under the sedition act with having published ‘false, scandalous, and malicious attacks on the character of the president, with intent to incite the hatred and contempt of the people against the man of their choice.iii. Cooper went through the statement line by line, proving that each of his statements were not false. The judge said his defense was one of the best he had ever seen.iv. Justice Samuel Chase, a found prosecutor of those who violated the sedition act,convicted Cooper, and many others after him. f. James Callender casei. Justice Chase ruled on this case, so of course Callender was convictedii. Callender was a Scotsman who had been expelled from England, he published a pamphlet advocating the election of Jefferson over Adams in 1800, and was found guilty. iii. Even political criticism was found to be a violation of the sedition act of 1798g. Anothony halwell i. was a verteran of the revolution. He was the postmaster general of Vermont andeditor of the Vermont Gazette. Friends of Lyon asked Haswell to publisize the lotrery to raise funds to pay for Lyon’s fines. ii. In the letter it explained how lyon was held by an oppressive governmentiii. The federalists charged that this statement violated the sedition acth. The most severe sentence levied under the seition act was imposed on David Brown. i. He was a vagabond radical who wondered from town to town preaching the evils of the federalist government. ii. He put up a liberty pole with signs that read no stamp act, no sedition act, no alien bills, no land tax, etc.iii. Justice chase convicted him to fines and improsnmenti. In January of 1800, the federalist attempted to create a grand committee of 13, which would decide in secret session which candidate had won the electoral votes of any contested states in the upcoming presidential election.i. This was so the federalists could fix the election and keep Adams in power.ii. Duane, who wrote for the Philadelphia Aurora which was once Benjamin Franklin’s magazine, published the bill in the paper.iii. He was indicted under the sedition act but the case was hastily abandoned by order of the president when