The 1790s was a decade of international crisis and domestic dissension. The Alien and Sedition Acts were very controversial acts that were passed to respond to the crises. Deep divisions in politics combined with distrust in foreign nations and growing domestic turmoil paved the way for the passing of the Alien and Sedition Acts by the Federalists.

The schisms in politics were resulted from the fierce rivalry between Hamilton and Jefferson. Both had different notions of how government should work. Hamilton's party, the Federalists, opposed Jefferson's party, the Antifederalists', attachment to France. Hamilton believed that Britain was the superior power and wanted to model the government to that of Britain's (Document D). Jefferson countered Hamilton's belief with the argument that Britain was not democratic enough and if our government was modeled after theirs then our republican principles would be lost (Document E). The Alien and Sedition acts clearly...