Liberty's first crisis
Subtitle: Adams, Jefferson, and the misfits who saved free speech
By: Charles Slack
Edition: First edition.
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Published: 2015
Language: eng
Number of pages: 340
ISBN-13: 9780802123428
Subjects: Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798; Alien and Sedition laws, 1798; Freedom of speech; Freedom of the press; History
Description: "When the United States government passed the Bill of Rights in 1791, its uncompromising protection of speech and of the press were unlike anything the world had ever seen before. But by 1798, the once-dazzling young republic of the United States was on the verge of collapse: Partisanship gripped the weak federal government, British seizures threatened American goods and men on the high seas, and war with France seemed imminent as its own democratic revolution deteriorated into terror. Suddenly, the First Amendment, which protected harsh commentary of the weak government, no longer seemed as practical. So that July, President John Adams and the Federalists in control of Congress passed an extreme piece of legislation that made criticism of the government and its leaders a crime punishable by heavy fines and jail time. In Liberty's First Crisis, writer Charles Slack tells the story of the 1798 Sedition Act, the crucial moment when high ideals met real-world politics and the country's future hung in the balance"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages [279]-324) and index.
Table of contents: title: The road to sedition; title: The jaws of power; title: The fever breaks; title: The parchment barrier.