Liberty’s First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech, Kindle Edition, by Charles Slack $2
One of my favorite US history books. The 1798 Sedition Act was a draconian law criminalizing what we see today as our fundamental right to free speech. Pres Adams didn't like dissent and the Act resulted in the imprisonment of numerous citizens, including a sitting congressman (whose story alone is worth reading the book). A really entertaining and informative account of the early history of the First Amendment and the dynamics of political speech in a new and vulnerable nation. "In 1798, with the United States in crisis, 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. From a loudmouth in a bar to a firebrand politician to Benjamin Franklin's own grandson, those victimized by the 1798 Sedition Act were as varied as the country's citizenry. But Americans refused to let their freedoms be so easily dismissed: they penned fiery editorials, signed petitions, and raised "liberty poles," while Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison drew up the infamous Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, arguing that the Federalist government had gone one step too far. Liberty's First Crisis vividly unfolds these pivotal events in the early life of the republic, as the Founding Fathers struggled to define America off the page and preserve the freedoms they had fought so hard to create." https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...39aa0728e4
One of my favorite US history books. The 1798 Sedition Act was a draconian law criminalizing what we see today as our fundamental right to free speech. Pres Adams didn’t like dissent and the Act resulted in the imprisonment of numerous citizens, including a sitting congressman (whose story alone is worth reading the book). A really entertaining and informative account of the early history of the First Amendment and the dynamics of political speech in a new and vulnerable nation.
“In 1798, with the United States in crisis, 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.
From a loudmouth in a bar to a firebrand politician to Benjamin Franklin’s own grandson, those victimized by the 1798 Sedition Act were as varied as the country’s citizenry. But Americans refused to let their freedoms be so easily dismissed: they penned fiery editorials, signed petitions, and raised “liberty poles,” while Vice President Thomas Jefferson and James Madison drew up the infamous Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, arguing that the Federalist government had gone one step too far. Liberty’s First Crisis vividly unfolds these pivotal events in the early life of the republic, as the Founding Fathers struggled to define America off the page and preserve the freedoms they had fought so hard to create.”
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product…39aa0728e4
