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Alien and Sedition Acts
The Alien and Seditioin Acts were four bills passed by the Federalists in 1798. The passage came at the time of the Quasi-War (undeclared naval warfare with France. They were meant to protect the U.S. from enemy aliens and to prevent seditious acts or comments about the government. The Deomocractic-Republicans and many others claimed that these acts were unconstiutiional. It was obvious this was a direct attack against the Democratic-Republicans and would hurt the presidency of John Adams. -
Know Nothing Party
The Know Nothing movement was a large nativist movement. Many people disliked the Catholic immigrants from Germany and Ireland that poured into the courntry. This movement reached across secctional lines at a time when the country was deeply divided over the issue of slavery. The success of the Know Nothing or American party, however, was very brief as the movement lacked quality leadership and proved undecided on the nation's most important issues. By 1856, the movement was almost gone. -
Civil War: Suspension of Habeas Corpus
In response to riots, local militia action, and fear that border states (specifically Maryland) would leave the Union, President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War. Chief Justice Roger Taney overtuned Lincoln's action. However, Lincoln ignored Taney's ruling. In the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis also supsended habeas corpus and declared martial law. Many innocent people were imprisoned and four were even sentenced to be hanged (eventually overturned). -
End of 19th Century: Literacy Test, Poll Taxes, Residence Requirements, and Jim Crow Laws
At the end of the 19th century many tacts were used to limit the rights of African Americans in the South, especially voting rights. Literacy test were a common way of doing so because the literacy rates among blacks were very small. Poll taxes were also a very good method because blacks did have the money to pay to vote. Residence requirements were intended to hurt black dominated living areas. Furthermore, Jim Crow laws legallized the segregation of blacks and whites in public facilities. -
Red Scare
The Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 caused a wide-spread fear on communism throughout the U.S. Anarchists and left-wing extremists caused uproar with acts of violence within the United States. In reaction to the fear of communism, Attorney Genreal Palmer went on his famous Palmer Raids, in attempt to arrest and deport communists and soccialists. Soon the IWW and the Communist Party USA lost many members. In 1919–20, several states enacted "criminal syndicalism" laws. -
KKK, Sacco and Vanzetti Trial, and Immigration Act of 1924
The KKK began to revive in the 1920s. The Klan began to spread across the nation, especially in cities. The Second Klan was against many groups of people, including blacks. Sacco and Vanzetti were two immigrants acused of murder, but with little evidence to support this. However, their immigrant status led to their execution. The Immigration Act of 1924 limited the number of immigrants for a country to 2% of the number of immigrants from that country that already currently lived in the U.S. -
WWII- Japanese-American internment camps
Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941), about 110,000 Japanese-Americans were placed into internment camps throughout the western United States. President Franklin D. Roosevelt authorized this action with the passage of Executive Order 9066 in 1942. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the orders in 1944. It wasn't until 1988 that President Reagan formally apologized for the treatment of the Japanese-Americans during WWII. -
McCarthyism
Originating from the accusations of Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, McCarthyism is the act of making accusations of disloyalty or treason with no real evidence. The term was originally used to talk about the anti-communism "witch hunts" of Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy was known to accuse members of government, industry leaders, and members of the armed forces of being communist. More often than not McCarthy had little to no evidence of any communist actions. -
Reconstuction: Black Codes and the KKK
The Black Codes refer to unofficial laws put into place to control the labor, migration, and basic human rights of blacks in the post-Civil War southern U.S. The KKK was found in 1865 by former Confederates mainly terrorizing freedmen. They wanted to ensure White supremacy at all cost, even murder. They attempted to keep blacks and Republicans from the voting polls and had somewhat success. By 1877 they contributed to the restoration of white Deomocrats to power in every Southern state.
