Alien and Sedition Acts were reviled in their time, and John Adams was not sorry to see them go

Chief among them was Samuel Chase, who presided over the trial of scandalmongering journalist James T. Callender. Callender was convicted of sedition and jailed in the spring of 1800.

During this and other trials, Chase abandoned all pretense of impartiality, openly siding with federal prosecutors.

“A republican government can only be destroyed in two ways,” Chase said during the 1800 sedition trial of writer Thomas Cooper, sounding more like a prosecutor than a judge. “The introduction of luxury, or the licentiousness of the press.”

Yet Chase was George Washington’s appointee. Adams could scarcely interfere with judicial independence, which was already a well-enshrined principle by the late 18th century.

The parameters of free speech, however, were still nebulous and untested. Indeed, “seditious libel” – speech that might undermine respect for the government or public officials – had long been outlawed under the English Common Law system, which the U.S. inherited.

Unlike British laws around free speech, the Sedition Act allowed truth as a defense.

“It shall be lawful for the defendant,” the law read, “to give in evidence in his defence, the truth of the matter contained in publication.”

In other words, critical press about public officials remained permissible in the U.S., so long as it was accurate. Seen in that light, the Federalists claimed the Sedition Act actually improved upon British Common Law.

Mixed record

Ultimately, Adams saved the U.S. from what would have been a disastrous war by pursuing peace negotiations with France. The Federalists were furious that Adams, in 1799, had sent a peace mission to France without consulting his party. But he chose peace with France rather than subject the American people to another war.

By doing this, he put country above party and sacrificed personal popularity for the common good. Adams’ other achievements as president include creating the Naval Department and establishing the Library of Congress.

And he made tremendous contributions to the independence of the U.S. as a Founding Father. He served in both Continental Congresses, got loans from the Dutch for the war effort and helped to shape the framework of government for the states.

The Alien and Sedition Acts were mistakes that Adams lived to regret. Reviving any of them today would be, in my opinion, a worse one.

I am an Adams Memorial Foundation Scholar and have written an op-ed for them.