ALIEN AND SEDITION ACTS. A series of statutes enacted during the administration of John Adams (q.v.), occasioned largely by the desire of the party in power to stifle the more virulent forms of political opposition then preva lent, and to check the aetivities of those who sympathized with France. There were four stat utes passed in execution of the policy of the Federalists (q.v.), of which two became espe daily notorious. The Alien Act, passed June 23, 1798, to remain in force two years, gave the President power to order the removal from the country of aliens judged to be dangerous. and provided that if those so notified did not leave the country oir secure from the President a license to remain, they would be subject to 'im prisonment for not over three years, and be dis qualified from ever becoming citizens of the United States. The President also might order the removal from the country of any alien thus imprisoned, and if such alien should thereafter be found in the country he might he imprisoned for as long a period as the President should deem the public safety required. The Sedition Act, passed July 14, 1798, to be in force until March 3, 1801, imposed penalties not exceeding a fine of $5000 and five years' imprisonment for con spiring against the government and its measures, and for interfering with the operations of the government. It imposed a penalty of imprison
ment for not over two years and a fine of not over $2000 for printing scandalous material concerning the Federal Government, the President or Congress. There were also passed the Alien Enemies Act, July 6, 1793, providing for the treatment of aliens with whose government the United States might be at war, and the Natural ization Act, June 18, 179S, fixing fourteen years' residence as a qualification for the acquisition by foreigners of citizenship. The extreme charac ter of these statutes and the partisan spirit which produced them caused an immediate and violent reaction, which was expressed in such forms as in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolu tions (q.v.), and which hastened the overthrow of the Federalist party. See historical section under UNITED STATES.