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Article: Words in the news.(sedition laws: Vietnam War)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- Current Events, a Weekly Reader publication
- Article date:
- March 3, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Weekly Reader Corp. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Alien and Sedition Acts (page 2)
In 1798, Congress passed a series of four acts (three dealing with aliens and one dealing with sedition). The laws were passed to silence dissent before a potential conflict with France. The Alien Enemies Act authorized the president to imprison or deport aliens from enemy nations. The Alien Friends Act authorized the president to deport dangerous aliens, in both war and peace. The Naturalization Act increased the time a person had to be a resident of the U.S. to become a citizen, to 14 years. The Sedition Act made it a criminal offense to produce "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" criticizing the government. The acts were ...