Over the last few weeks, we’ve covered the efforts in the spring and summer of 1798 to build an army and navy to fight a war with France. As fear over war with France grew, Congress turned its attention to foreigners living in America and whether they would be a threat to the country. This week we will look at Congress’ efforts to create laws to deport foreigners living in America.
Immigration Concerns
Concerns over immigration were nothing new. There were concerns that the American experiment would be destroyed by European immigrants who clung to ideas on monarchism as the best basis for government. These immigrants could arrive in large numbers, overwhelm the country, and eventually out-vote the Americans who supported free self-government.
Near the end of the Revolutionary War, Jefferson wrote about the immigration problem, later published in his Notes on the State of Virginia.
Every species of government has its specific principles. Ours perhaps are more peculiar than those of any other in the universe. It is a composition of the freest principles of the English constitution, with others derived from natural right and natural reason. To these nothing can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute monarchies. Yet, from such, we are to expect the greatest number of emigrants. They will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, imbibed in their early youth; or, if able to throw them off, it will be in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as is usual, from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. These principles, with their language, they will transmit to their children. In proportion to their numbers, they will share with us the legislation. They will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its direction, and render it a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass.
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| Cinque-Têtes or the Paris Monster, 1797 |
The arrival of French royalist refugees from the French Revolution gave rise to fears among Democratic Republicans that these people would support having a king in their newly adopted countries, just as Jefferson had suggested in his notes. At the same time, Federalists feared that many of these refugees would include radical Jacobins who spread a powerful anti-English sentiment and bring to America the radicalism that led to the reign of terror in France.
Another fear, more specific to the south, developed regarding French refugees, who came primarily from what became Haiti. Many of them arrived with their slaves, mostly settling in Charleston. There was a fear that these slaves might spread ideas from the Haitian Revolution that would lead to a slave revolt in America.
The Irish Problem
Perhaps one of the greatest fears, however, came from the growing influx of Irish immigrants. French immigrants were a concern, but they probably never exceeded 10,000 over the course of the 1790s. The Irish immigrated in much larger numbers. In 1790, the greater Philadelphia area had about 44,000 total residents. Over the course of the 1790s nearly 30,000 Irish immigrants settled in and around the city. Many of those came in 1798 and 1799 following a failed uprising in Ireland in 1798.
In 1798, Ireland was very different from what it would become in the early 19th century, and what it is like today. Ireland had its own Parliament. Catholics could not vote, and the districts were drawn so that English lords held a majority of seats in the Irish Parliament. There was no requirement that voting districts have equal representation. So-called pocket districts consisted of only a few hundred people, with the only votes coming from the lord who owned the land. The English Parliament also asserted the power to override the Irish Parliament on anything. So most Irish people did not have their views on anything respected by the government. Also, the majority of Irish people still spoke Gaelic, not English.
Since political power leads to economic power, the Irish people suffered under a system where most of the country’s productivity went to English landlords. High rents, taxes, tithes, and military repression kept most Irish families on the brink of survival. It was not just the Catholics who suffered, the Presbyterians in Northern Ireland suffered under the same poor treatment.
Of course, many Irishmen wanted to change this. The Society of United Irishmen formed under a young revolutionary named Wolfe Tone. He hoped to unite Catholic and Protestant Irishmen in an effort to resist English abuses. Tone moved to Philadelphia in 1795, eventually buying a farm near Princeton He began working with the more radical republican groups and the French Ambassador to organize a revolution for Ireland. He traveled to France in 1796 to advocate for the French invasion of Ireland, which would serve as the core for an Irish rebellion. Tone joined the Irish legion which fought for France.
France took a fleet into the Irish Sea in 1796, but it never landed due to weather and other problems. This led to an English crackdown in Ireland, but the United Irishmen remained active, hoping for French intervention.
In 1797, again as advocated by Tone, a Dutch fleet sailed to Ireland. The Dutch had formed the Batavian Republic which was controlled by France. The fleet landed some soldiers, but again bad weather forced them to call off the plan. The British Navy found and destroyed the enemy fleet.
Thanks to an informer, the British received information that the United Irishmen had about a quarter of a million men ready to rise up and join with France to free Ireland. In March, 1798, British soldiers seized the entire leadership committee in Ireland. Britain imposed martial law and appointed General Gerard Lake as commander. Lake had been a lieutenant colonel who had surrendered at Yorktown. Now a major general, he used torture and violence to root out and destroy any potential rebels.
The response was an all out uprising in May. One of the larger battles, Vinegar Hill in County Wexford, saw the use of 20,000 British regulars As things got more serious, the British appointed General Charles Cornwallis as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
France considered sending support, but ultimately decided to use the bulk of its resources to support Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt. Instead, France landed only 1000 soldiers in August to help arm and supply Irish rebels.
General Lake managed to trap the French and Irish Army at Ballinamuck, after a brief fight, the French surrendered. The French prisoners were treated well. The Irish contingent either fought or fled, expecting no mercy. Those who were caught were executed.
On September 23, the last of the French forces were defeated at Killala. Not aware of the surrender, a second French fleet with 3000 soldiers, including Wolfe Tone, departed from Brest for Ireland. A British fleet engaged and defeated the French, capturing the ship with Tone aboard. The Irish rebel was tried and sentenced to hang. He committed suicide in prison before execution of sentence.
All of this meant that thousands of Irish fled to America to escape the war and violence taking place at home.
Response to Immigration
Irish cooperation with France meant that these immigrants tended to fit in very well politically with the Democratic-Republicans. Federalists viewed these immigrants as a direct threat to Federalist control of the government.
Federalists had welcomed immigration initially, mostly when the immigrants consisted of French royalist refugees fleeing the revolution. The new immigrants, however, were lining up politically against them. Something had to be done or they feared the changing demographics would end Federalist rule.
Federalists accused the Democratic Republicans of a conspiracy to bring immigrants into the US to gain political advantage. They even accused them of allowing Irish immigrants to vote illegally before becoming citizens.
Federalist newspapers railed about how the Irish would destroy America. The Irish were considered too primitive and violent to live in a civilized society like America. They blamed the Irish for street protests against government policies, including the Jay Treaty protests, and characterized their protests as evidence of the rise of mob rule.
Federalist Congressman Harrison Gray Otis, a nephew of Boston radical James Otis, gave a speech in Congress where he proclaimed
"I do not wish to invite hordes of wild Irishmen, nor the turbulent and disorderly of all parts of the world, to come here with a view to disturb our tranquility, after having succeeded in the overthrow of their own Governments."
The Irish were portrayed as beasts who needed to be caged. Some opinions justified the English abuses in Ireland as the only way to tame such a wild people. Conspiracy theorists argued that the Irish constituted a fifth column in America which would eventually rise up, overthrow the government, and bring a French Revolution level of violence to America. Some extremists in Congress even proposed ending all naturalization and only allowing US citizenship by birth.
William Cobbett, an English immigrant and Federalist pamphleteer wrote that Irish immigrants were "animated by the same infamous principles, and actuated by that same thirst for blood and plunder, which had reduced France to a vast human slaughter-house" and that their advocates should be treated “as we would a TURK, a JEW, a JACOBIN or a DOG.”
There were, of course, advocates for the other side. Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans wanted the support of the newest Americans and argued against the attacks. Albert Galatin, the guy who was involved in the Whiskey Rebellion, and an immigrant himself, became a leading advocate for immigration in the House of Representatives.
Editor Benjamin Franklin Bache died in the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1798, but the Aurora continued to publish under William Duane, also an immigrant. Although Duane’s parents were Irish, he was born in Newfoundland and raised in New York. He moved to London after the Revolutionary War and got involved in radical politics there. He had to flee England during the controversies related to the Irish rebellion in 1796. In 1797 Duane helped to form the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Society of United Irishmen. He also supported black schools in Philadelphia, which led his opponents to conclude that he was also plotting a slave revolt in America. Duane became a leading advocate for the Irish in America as well as a voice for radical views.
Naturalization Act
Despite some defenders, the fear stoked by the Quasi-war with France encouraged Federalists to act. Representative Joshua Coit of Connecticut introduced legislation to suspend all naturalization of new citizens. During the debates the Federalists explicitly argued the goal was to deny the right to vote to immigrants and reduce the number of Republican voters. Some even wanted to make the ban permanent. It was during this debate that Otis made his statement about “hordes of wild Irishmen” as a threat to the country.
Another proposal would add a twenty-dollar tax on naturalization certificates. This would ensure that poor immigrants could not afford naturalization. Only the very wealthy could afford the entrance fee.
Opponents Albert Gallatin of Pennsylvania and Edward Livingston of New York convinced some moderate Federalists to oppose an indefinite naturalization ban. Instead, the House compromised and extended the residency requirement for citizenship from 5 to 14 years. All immigrants would also have to register within 48 hours of arrival and declare an intent to naturalize before that 14 year waiting period started. The new law also barred any immigrants from a country with which the US was at war from becoming citizens.
The final bill passed the House by a vote of 41 to 40. President Adams signed it into law on June 17, 1798.
Alien Friends Act
Passage of the immigration act at least delayed the prospect of having immigrants vote in upcoming elections. It did not, however, say anything about concerns over non-citizens living in the US.
The Federalists proposed another bill, initially called An Act Concerning Aliens. It empowered the federal government to deport immigrants. The details of how this would work took up much of Congress’ debate over the summer of 1798.
The Democratic Republicans realized that some sort of measure was going to pass Congress, so they got behind a bill entitled An Act Respecting Alien Enemies. The Republican bill was more limited than the Federalist proposal since it only applied to people who came from a country with which the US was actually at war. It authorized deporting people from enemy countries during war, but also protected naturalized citizens, and gave people a right to due process in court. The Federalist bill had none of these safeguards.
The Republican bill which was limited to enemies in wartime was dubbed the Alien Enemies Act. The Federalist bill, which applied to any immigrants at any time was dubbed the Alien Friends Act.
The Federalist majority in the Senate tabled the Alien Enemies Act and focused debate on the Alien Friends Act. The Senate bill essentially gave blanket power to the President to “deport all such aliens as he shall judge dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States.” The President had complete discretion to judge how dangerous someone was and to deport them without any sort of hearing or appeal. The bill also proposed harsh punishments for anyone who attempted to interfere with the President’s orders.
During debate the Republicans tried to soften the bill. Kentucky Senator Humphrey Marshall proposed an amendment that the president issue a warrant of deportation to record the cause for removal for each person. The Senate rejected this amendment and passed the bill giving pretty much complete authority to the president with no oversight from anyone else, not Congress, not the courts, not the states.
When the bill went to the House, Gallatin attacked its constitutionality. One argument was that the Federal government had no authority to remove aliens. It only had power over naturalization as citizens. If states wanted to have non-citizens living in their states, the Constitution permitted that. His second argument was the complete lack of due process. The law gave the president arbitrary control over the lives of millions of immigrants with no one able to check or even question his use of that power.
The House managed to limit the provision requiring all aliens to register to those who entered the country after the law was passed. It would not apply retroactively. Also, a provision allowed those with a deportation order to challenge that order before a person appointed by the president, to make the case that they were not a danger, and could be given a license to remain in the US. Most importantly, this law was arguably to meet an immediate emergency. It would expire after two years.
The final bill narrowly passed the House, approved by the Senate and signed into law on June 25, 1798.
President Adams, however, chose not to use this power very much. Although Secretary of State Pickering regularly requested that Adams sign piles of blank warrants to provide Federal marshals, Adams only ever signed three warrants.
One was for Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a wealthy Frenchman who originally supported the French Revolution but became a target of it when he proved insufficiently radical. It seems Adams targeted him mostly because he was friends with Thomas Jefferson. Du Pont was not in the US at the time, but arrived in 1799. Adams opted not to execute the warrant and Du Pont remained.
Another target was Constantin-François Chasseboeuf, comte de Volney. The French philosopher had come in 1795, escaping the Reign of Terror. Officials suspected him of spying and as part of a plot for France to re-acquire Louisiana. Volney fled the country before the law took effect.
The third target was Médéric Louis Elie Moreau de St. Méry, a French refugee of the reign of terror who opened a bookstore in Philadelphia in 1794. The bookstore became a meeting place for French exiles. When asked why the President targeted him, Adams responded “Nothing in particular, but he’s too French.” St. Méry also packed up and returned to France before the government could act.
Alien Enemies Act
Congress also took up consideration of the Alien Enemies Act. As I said, the Republicans had proposed this in hopes of heading off the Alien Friends Act, but the Federalists passed that first act, and then hoped to add to the government’s power with this second act.
The president would only be able to use this law if the US declared war or was invaded by another country. It gave the president the power to apprehend, restrain, and remove any males over the age of 14 who were citizens or subjects of the enemy country and who were not naturalized US citizens.
It further gave federal courts the power to hold hearings and protect the due process rights of the aliens. Because this was only a wartime measure, Republicans largely supported it. Because Federalists got most of the powers they wanted in the Alien Friends Act, they were largely unconcerned with the restrictions in the Alien Enemies Act. As a result, it passed both houses with little opposition. President Adams signed it into law on July 6, 1798.
The Alien Enemies Act never went into effect during the Quasi-war because Congress never actually declared war. Even so, the effect of passing the two alien acts and the new naturalization act sent the message to many immigrants that they were not welcome in America. Hundreds left on their own. The fact the Reign of Terror had ended in France gave many refugees confidence that they would be better off back in France. Irish immigrants, knowing that things actually seemed to be getting worse in Ireland, Mostly took their chances and remained in America.
After taking care of their concerns of Aliens, Federalists next turned their attention toward American citizens whom they considered a danger.
Next week: We will discuss the Sedition Act of 1798.
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Next Episode 407 The Sedition Act of 1798 (coming soon)
Previous Episode 405 The Quasi-War Navy
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Further Reading
Websites
Immigrants and the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/essays/immigrants-and-alien-and-sedition-acts-1798
An Act Respecting Alien Enemies: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/alien.asp
Alien and Sedition Actions (1798) https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/alien-and-sedition-acts
The Alien Enemies Act, Explained https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/alien-enemies-act-explained
Irish Rebellion of 1798 https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/irish-rebellion-1798
Smith, James Morton. “The Enforcement of the Alien Friends Act of 1798.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 41, no. 1, 1954, pp. 85–104. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1898151
Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)
Adams, Charles F. The Life of John Adams, Vol. 2, Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co. 1871.
Bowers, Claude G. Jefferson and Hamilton: The Struggle for Democracy in America, London: Constable and Co. 1925.
Clark, Allen C. William Duane, Columbia Historical Society, 1905.
Cobbett, James Detection of a Conspiracy Formed by the United Irishmen, London: J. Wright, 1799.
Gribayédoff, Valerian. The French Invasion of Ireland in '98, New York: Charles P. Sumerby, 1890.Lawson, Elizabeth The Reign of Witches: The Struggle Against the Alien and Sedition Laws, New York: Civil Rights Congress, 1952.
Madden, Richard R. The United Irishmen, London: The Catholic Publishing and Bookselling Co. 1860.
Miller, John C. Crisis in Freedom: The Alien and Sedition Acts, Atlantic-Little Brown Books, 1951.
Morse, Jr. John T. John Adams, Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co. 1884.
Wood, John The History of the Administration of John Adams, Esq., Late President of the United States, New York: Barlas and Ward, 1802.
Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*
Benner, David Compact of the Republic, Life & Liberty Publishing Group, 2014.
Berkin, Carol A Sovereign People: The Crises of the 1790s and the Birth of American Nationalism, Basic Books, 2017.
Brown, Ralph A. The Presidency of John Adams, Univ. of Kansas Press, 1975.
Chernow, Ron Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004.
Chervinsky, Lindsay M. Making the Presidency John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic, Oxford Univ. Press, 2024.
DeConde, Alexander The Quasi War: The Politics and Diplomacy of the Undeclared war with France, 1797-1801, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1966 (borrow on archive.org).
Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788–1800, Oxford Univ. Press, 1993 (borrow on archive.org).
Halperin, Terri D. The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798: Testing the Constitution, Johns Hopkins Univ. Press 2016 (borrow on archive.org).
McCullough, David John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2001.
Meacham, Jon Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Random House, 2012
Miller, John C. Alexander Hamilton and the Growth of the New Nation (or Portrait in Paradox), Harper & Brothers, 1959 (borrow on archive.org)
Nester, William The Hamiltonian Vision, 1789-1800, Potomac Books, 2012.
O’Keefe, John M. Stranger Citizens: Migrant Influence and National Power in the Early American Republic, Cornell Univ. Press, 2021.
Pakenham, Thomas. The Year of Liberty: The Great Irish Rebellion of 1798, Panther, 1972 (borrow on archive.org).
Phalen, William J. The First War of United States: The Quasi War with France 1798-1801, Vij Books India, 2018.
Randall, Willard Sterne Thomas Jefferson: A Life, Henry Holt and Co. 1993.
Shaw Peter The Character of John Adams, Univ. of NC Press, 1976.
Slack, Charles Liberty's First Crisis: Adams, Jefferson, and the Misfits Who Saved Free Speech, Grove Atlantic, Inc. 2015.
Smith, Jean E. John Marshall: Definer of a Nation, Henry Holt & Co. 1996.
Staloff, Darren Hamilton, Adams, Jefferson: The Politics of Enlightenment and the American Founding, Hill and Wang, 2005.
Wood, Gordon S. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815, Oxford Univ. Press, 2009.
* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
