Correct. The answer is c. Republican newspapers, such as Benjamin Bache’s Philadelphia Aurora, printed such extreme criticism of President Adams that, as Abigail Adams suggested, the United States might “come to a civil war.” Federalists responded to these written attacks by passing the Sedition Act of 1798, but instead of silencing the offending newspapers, the Act only amplified Republican discontent with the administration.

Incorrect. The answer is c. Republican newspapers, such as Benjamin Bache’s Philadelphia Aurora, printed such extreme criticism of President Adams that, as Abigail Adams suggested, the United States might “come to a civil war.” Federalists responded to these written attacks by passing the Sedition Act of 1798, but instead of silencing the offending newspapers, the Act only amplified Republican discontent with the administration.

Correct. The answer is b. Matthew Lyon wrote that under President Adams, “every consideration of the public welfare” was being “swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, in an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, or selfish avarice.” Lyon believed that his arrest for sedition was the result of Adams’s selfish efforts to increase his own power.

Incorrect. The answer is b. Matthew Lyon wrote that under President Adams, “every consideration of the public welfare” was being “swallowed up in a continual grasp for power, in an unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, or selfish avarice.” Lyon believed that his arrest for sedition was the result of Adams’s selfish efforts to increase his own power.

Correct. The answer is a. The Virginia Resolution stated the state’s opposition to “the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution” of the Alien and Sedition Acts because the Alien Act “exercises a power no where delegated to the federal government” and the Sedition Act gave the federal government powers “expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto.”

Incorrect. The answer is a. The Virginia Resolution stated the state’s opposition to “the palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution” of the Alien and Sedition Acts because the Alien Act “exercises a power no where delegated to the federal government” and the Sedition Act gave the federal government powers “expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto.”

Correct. The answer is d. The Sedition Act punished anyone who spoke or published “any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings” about the government, Congress, or the President. Although there were many reasons why Republicans opposed this Act, including its allocation of unconstitutional powers to the federal government, one likely important reason was its criminalization of speech.

Incorrect. The answer is d. The Sedition Act punished anyone who spoke or published “any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings” about the government, Congress, or the President. Although there were many reasons why Republicans opposed this Act, including its allocation of unconstitutional powers to the federal government, one likely important reason was its criminalization of speech.

Correct. The answer is b. The sedition crisis brought to the fore conflicts between the Federalists and Republicans over how the United States should be governed, and over what kind of behavior would be tolerated (or criminalized) in the new nation, particularly because central constitutional principles like enumerated powers and freedom of speech were at stake in this crisis.

Incorrect. The answer is b. The sedition crisis brought to the fore conflicts between the Federalists and Republicans over how the United States should be governed, and over what kind of behavior would be tolerated (or criminalized) in the new nation, particularly because central constitutional principles like enumerated powers and freedom of speech were at stake in this crisis.