The Alien and Sedition Acts generated a significant amount of backlash amongst the American people. In the 1800 presidential election, they ousted Federalist leaders and elected Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson as president. In 1801, as John Adams’s presidential term came to an end, both the Alien Friends Act and Sedition Act expired on March 3rd. A year later, the Naturalization Act was repealed. Yet, the Alien Enemies Act, having no set “sunset” date, was preserved as part of the law.
Jumping to 1812, the United States is now engaged in war with Great Britain. On July 11th, an official document was sent out from the office of U.S. Secretary of State, James Monroe. Under the authority of President James Madison, he announced that “all subjects of His Britannic Majesty, residing within the United States, have become alien enemies…,” using the Alien Enemies Act as legal justification (“Alien Enemies Documents,” n.d.). The notice goes on to demand that any British subject in America report to local government officials so that they might provide personal information, including their place of birth, age, place of residence, etc. It then reminds citizens that they are required to report anyone who does not comply with this decree.
Under the “Linktree” link in my bio, you can find a webpage that displays photocopies of notices posted by territorial secretaries and written reports generated during the questioning of “alien enemies.”
The next time the act was invoked was during World War I when President Woodrow Wilson declared German natives, citizens, and denizens "alien enemies.” This iteration of use also targeted any of their “allies,” which included American-born women who were married to German men. During Wilson’s administration, twelve regulations were established affecting Germans in America. The regulations prohibited the possession of firearms and restricted employment in specific areas, amongst other measures. Regulation Twelve decreed that any violations would result in the person being “subject to summary arrest . . . and to confinement in such penitentiary, prison, jail, or military camp” (“World War 1,” 2023).
Next, we will cover:
- The laws’s role in legalizing the internment of Japanese-Americans during WW2
Works Cited:
Alien and Sedition Acts (1798). (n.d.). National Archives. Retrieved March 17, 2025 from https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/alien-and-sedition-acts.
Alien Enemies Documents (War of 1812), 1812-1815 Series 0499. (n.d.) Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Retrieved March 17, 2025 from https://da.mdah.ms.gov/series/territorial/s499?page=1.
Ebright, Katherine Yon. (2024, October 9). The Alien Enemies Act, Explained. Brennan Center for Justice. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/alien-enemies-act-explained.
The Alien and Seditions Act. (n.d.) PBS: American Experience. Retrieved March 17, 2025 from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/adams-alien-and-seditions-act/.
World War I Enemy Alien Records. (2023, May 22). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/enemy-aliens/ww1.
Share this post