Adams aroused suspicions, he had nornsuch reservoir of good will to sustainrnhim.rnFrench antagonism toward the newrnrepublic flowered in Adams’ term, andrnAdams and his Federalist-dominatedrnCongress responded with extensive militaryrnpreparations. They also enacted thernAlien and Sedition Acts, a group of legislativernmeasures whose ostensible aimrnwas to allow President Adams to keep arntight rein on Frenchmen and other foreignersrnwhose activities might threatenrnAmerica in war-time.rnThe Alien Friends Act, which gavernAdams untrammeled power over “threatening”rnaliens from friendly countries,rnwas understood by Republican leaders asrnan attempt to intimidate one of theirrnown, Swiss-born Congressman AlbertrnCallatin. The Sedition Act, whichrnbanned criticism of the President andrncriticism of Congress (though not criticismrnof Republican Vice President Jefferson),rnprovoked a firestorm.rnSeveral editors, and even a Republicanrnmember of Congress, served federalrnprison terms under the Sedition Act.rnThe most inane comments about Adamsrnlanded men in the pokey. The two leadingrnlights in the Republican galaxy, Jeffersonrnand former congressman JamesrnMadison, corresponded in code or not atrnall for fear that censors were reading theirrnprivate mail. Jefferson remarked that hernwas ashamed to think that the Vice Presidentrnof the United States was not free tornsay what he thought in his own country.rnHaing failed to win elections forrnCongress and for Presiderrt, the Republicanrnhigh command fell back on what Jeffersonrncalled “the last ditch”: the Republican-rndominated state legislatures ofrnVirginia and Kentucky. It might be thatrnRepublicans were going to lose the argumentrnin Congress, but if they could gornover the heads of the Federalists (whosernstrength in Congress in 1798 was as greatrnas it would ever be), directly to the peoplernof the states, they irright have theirrnway.rnJefferson, ever sanguine about his fellov-rncitizens, assumed that Americansrnhad been duped by wily Federalists, especiallyrnby the clique around AlexanderrnHamilton. Unlike some of his leadingrnlieutenants, such as Virginians John Taylorrnof Caroline and William BranchrnGiles, Jefferson thought that exposingrnFederalist “heresies” would bring thernpeople to their senses.rnTaylor and Giles both urged Jeffersonrnto consider carving up the union. Jeffersonrnbelieved that the fissioning process,rnonce initiated, would not stop until Virginiarnwas completely isolated, and herntold Taylor that he would prefer to keeprnthe union with New England. LhilikernJefferson, the philosopher from CarolinernCounty would have preferred to bringrnmatters to a head. Even if Republicansrnmanaged to supplant the ruling clique,rnhe wanted thorough-going amendmentsrnto the Constitution, amendments foreverrnprecluding a resuscitation of Hamilton’srn”corruption” of the Congress. A Southernrndespotism over the North, Taylorrnreasoned, would be as bad as a Northernrnone over the South.rnTaylor sponsored the Virginia Resolutions,rncomposed by Madison, in the VirginiarnHouse of Delegates, while Gilesrncarried them irr the Virginia Senate. Expectingrnfurther action later, Taylor willinglyrnfollowed the tactical preference ofrnhis chieftain from Albemarle. WilsonrnCar- Nicholas saw to the adoption of Jefferson’srnversion by the legislature of Kentuckv,rnthen only recently elevated to thernstatus of a state—and still dominated byrnVirginians.rnJefferson based his terse, forceful pronouncementrnon the First Amendment tornthe Constitution and on the compactrntheory of the federal goernment. He insisted,rnon groimds tiiat now seem banalrnbut which at the time were novel, thatrnthe free speech and press provisions ofrnthat amendment banned Congress fromrnenacting the Sedition Act. That act, herndeclared, was nothing more than arnusurpation, void ab initio, and —in arnphrase dropped from the version finallyrnadopted by Kentucky but judged by thernVirginia House of Delegates to be implicitrnin claims of unconstitutiona]it) —rn”of no force or effect.”rnJefferson also argued that the Constitution’srnvery structure made the SeditionrnAct unconstitutional. The federal compact,rnlike any other compact, was onernsolely of delegated powers. Since thernpower to enact a sedition act, to banrnspeech judged untoward or inconvenientrnby the government, had not beenrngranted to the Congress, that body hadrnno such power. Pace the Federalists,rnthere was no general power of the federalrngovernment to legislate for the “commonrndefense and general welfare.”rnThe Wallrnb)’Robert A. HallrnHe traces names, maneuvering the chairrnagainst the slope. The panels stretch out blackrnand still. Each year he vows he’ll not be back,rnbut every bitter April finds him there.rnThe first few names of friends are low. But fourrnare cut up high, and he would need a legrnto stand and trace them. So he has to begrnfor help from strangers innocent of war.rnTwo years ago he pushed his wheels to wherernthe leader lives. He’d stared across the lawnrnbeyond the bars—the tourists had all g o n e -rnthen cursed and spat upon the ground. A pairrnof guards had hirned away without a nod.rn—You’d think that it would break the heart of God.rnDECEMBER 1998/47rnrnrn