Free Speech Under Attack: The Sedition Act of 1798
On July 14, 1798 – John Adams signed the Sedition Act into law. This is one of the most egregious violations of the Constitution in history – criminalizing free speech and the press just years after the 1st Amendment was ratified. Path to Liberty: July 14,...
Criminalizing Free Speech: The Sedition Act Trials
Attacks on the Freedom of Speech are nothing new. Benjamin Franklin warned about them as far back as 1722. And the Sedition Act of 1798 was a direct assault. Learn the stories of some of the people arrested and prosecuted under one of the worst federal acts in...
Today in History: John Adams Signs the Sedition Act
Today in 1798, Jeffersonian Republicans celebrated Bastille Day as a partisan holiday. On the same day, President John Adams took this opportunity to sign the Sedition Act into law on July 14, 1798. The law criminalized bringing the president and members of Congress...