Leaving from New Orleans. The Alien and Sedition Acts, regulating the activities of foreigners and the political speech of citizens, are adopted by Congress.
Newspaper publishers reign in their writers and cartoonists for fear of fines and incarceration.
The Hicklin Test. The US adopts its first definition of obscenity, borrowed from the English trial Regina v. Hicklin. Advances in printing make political cartoons powerful. Politicians propose legislation to regulate them. His drawings of Governor Pennypacker as a tree, a beer mug, and a variety of tubers lead to the law's repeal.