The seizure of civil liberties and the response of the American population This article explains the motivation of presidents for issuing acts and orders that stifle individual liberties, oppress a group of people and create unjust and harmful laws in action while maintaining the support of the general population. The four acts contained in the document take away all Fourth and First Amendment rights from a population, increase presidential power, and make the lives of immigrants particularly extremely difficult through ordinances passed at the height of war or a major attack. The four presidents who initiated these acts exploited the population's fear and growing emotional involvement to gain support for their acts that targeted other American citizens. “Othering” the oppressed group made it easy for Americans to identify and voluntarily eliminate the group the president was targeting. A phenomenon like this, where the president's bills that take away civil liberties have many internal and external factors that contribute to successful passage and subsequent implementation: the use of fear, high emotional intensity, propaganda surrounding the target populations and the resulting increase in their executive power. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay John Adams passed a series of acts – all encompassed under the heading of the Alien and Sedition Acts – in 1798. These acts not only went against the First Amendment, but took away basic human rights from those deemed “dangerous” . These acts severely limited the freedoms of immigrants in the newly formed United States, a country that was built on the rights and foundations of immigrants. Such acts were built and erected out of a nation's fear after a series of attacks and benefited only one man – John Adams – by dramatically increasing his presidential power. George W. Bush, along the same lines, passed a law that also took away the rights of those who were deemed "dangerous" simply on the basis of their skin color and ethnicity. The Patriot Act exploited the fear of the American population after the attacks of September 11, 2001; a nation in turmoil after terrorist attacks at home. The Patriot Act greatly increased the power of both President Bush and Vice President Cheney and the role of the president thereafter. It goes against the First Amendment and against the basic human rights of those affected by the law. The Alien and Sedition Acts are a series of acts (Naturalization Act, Alien Enemies Act, Alien Friends Act, and Sedition Act) that made life increasingly difficult for those who were immigrants. This newly formed nation (founded only in 1776) prided itself on being a safe haven for those who were persecuted and in need of freedom, but it completely and unpatriotically turned its back on those it claimed to help. The series of acts made it more difficult for immigrants to become citizens, imprisoned and deported noncitizens who appeared to pose a “threat” or were from a hostile nation, increased the length of stay of immigrants from five to fourteen years, and criminalized false statements made to immigrants. the government (The Alien and Sedition Acts). The acts were passed under the guise of national security and the safety of the American public. Creating this gap between “us and them” made it much easier for Adams to approve illegal acts and persuade American society to believe that it was for their benefit. The Patriot Act hasmade the indefinite detention of immigrants possible, allowed immigrants' homes and businesses to be searched without a warrant, and gave the president the power to access the phone lines, emails, and financial records of those he deemed "suspicious" . (USA PATRIOT ACT). Bush claimed that this act was in the interest of national security and was implemented to protect “real” Americans. Creating a separation between “Americans and non-Americans” once again worked in the president's favor for the agenda he was trying to pass. Americans, alarmed and confused at a difficult time in US history, just wanted the problem solved, and the Bush administration deceived the people into believing that they were acting solely in the interests of the population. Both acts target a specific group of people: those who opposed the current president at the time. Bush's target demographic (upper-middle class, white, Republican, male) is not affected by passage of the Patriot Act, yet those who would demographically vote against him (minorities, lower class, immigrants) are the negative recipients of passage of this law. After the September 11 attacks, Americans succumbed to mass panic. This substantial act of terrorism occurred on American soil, when the United States was thought to be invincible and something under this statute could not and would not happen here. The Bush administration exploited this terror for its own ends, persecuting those who did not see Bush as a re-electable president. With very little opposition and with the general population lost in the anguish of 9/11, Bush effortlessly passed the Patriot Act and the American people saluted their leader and placed ignorant faith in his ability to hold their own at heart. interest. After the French Revolution of 1799, Americans feared that French sympathizers were plotting to overthrow the presidency, the Constitution, and John Adams. Fear trembled across the nation against a group of individuals already integrated into their society. A divided divide between the citizens and Adams used it to his advantage. Believing that the French wanted nothing more than to kill any American who posed as a patriot, the American population harbored panic and in return looked to their president, John Adams, for assistance and guidance. Adams used this opportunity to promote his federalist agenda and ensure that his acts were passed. Easily, to the alarm of the American people, the acts were passed with many supporters. The Alien and Sedition acts were denounced by Thomas Jefferson after he assumed the presidency, but the legacy of these acts does not end there. Later in U.S. history, the acts were reinstated to repress German, Italian, and Japanese immigrants during World War II. Under the same guise of “national security,” Roosevelt used a ratified version of these acts to deport all illegal German, Italian, and Japanese immigrants in the country. This action led to the internment of Japanese in labor camps across the United States under Executive Order 9066. (Watkins) Along with the same idea of ​​freeing some Americans from their First Amendment rights such as the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Patriot Act, The Espionage and Sedition Acts of 1918. After the start of World War I, the Espionage and Sedition Acts were quickly enacted to prevent the immigrant population from "speaking out" against the United States during the war. By taking away the rights guaranteed to every citizen of the United States and falsely incriminating those born outside the United States, not onlyWoodrow Wilson increased his presidential power and the power to remove certain populations from America, but the American power and the people who were not targeted by the act of corruption rallied behind him. These laws were enacted in a state of fear after the outbreak of World War I and the United States went to war against Germany only to strengthen the power of the man responsible for everything: Woodrow Wilson. Many were imprisoned, not for violent or hateful acts intended to thwart war efforts, but simply for using their (not always) First Amendment rights. The Espionage Act, enacted on June 15, 1917, soon after the United States declared war on Germany, gave federal officials the authority to arrest anyone they deemed "threatened the national security" by expressing or publishing opinions criticizing American involvement in the war. This act was controversial to many, but especially to those who immigrated to the United States and disagreed with the involvement in the war, the military draft, and the unconstitutional revocation of their free speech rights. Overall, while not as thorough as the later ratified Sedition Act, the Espionage Act prohibited citizens from interfering with the U.S. war effort, including spreading false information, impeding recruiting and enlistment, or l 'encouragement of insubordination, disloyalty or mutiny. The Espionage Act itself did not create a set of laws that were unjust or even seemed too unreasonable, but the subsequent act, the Sedition Act, made an amendment to the original law in 1918, further deepening the rights of citizens, particularly those who were immigrants . (Dashiell, 2015) The Sedition Act, enacted on May 16, 1918, specified that the Espionage Act was to target German immigrants, whether perceived as threats or not. The Sedition Act made it illegal to use profane or disloyal language to criticize the United States government, military, flag, or uniform. In addition to taking away the First Amendment right to free speech, it also made illegal other actions such as giving a speech opposing U.S. involvement, discouraging the sale of U.S. government bonds, or even atrocities such as flying the German flag . Violation of this law carried the “criminal” up to twenty years in prison or a heavy fine of ten thousand dollars. Also under this law the postmaster general prohibited the sending of letters, newspapers, parcels and pamphlets that could be seen as anti-war. Nearly seventy-five newspapers lost their mailing privileges or were forcibly forced to remain silent about the war. Most of these publications were run by German-Americans or were published in the German language. Along with the targeting of German publications, two thousand people were arrested for sedition and as many as one thousand (mostly immigrants) convicted. The Supreme Court found this to be fair and equitable, stating that it was their authority to punish speech that would “create a clear and present danger” (Dashiell, 2015). Although the Sedition Act was repealed in 1921, the Espionage Act remains in force today. Fear, as with both the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Patriot Act, was a major contributing factor to the enforcement and creation of these acts. Those in the United States were pitted against the Germans, even when those who chose to immigrate were just as much citizens as those who were born here. The government made sure that the fear instilled in natural born American citizens was in play when it enforced these acts by “othering” thoseagainst whom the United States was fighting in the war: Germany. German immigrants, tormented by the idea of ​​war like any other citizen of the United States, were targeted by anti-German propaganda, the harshest of which was the approval of these acts. Simply by being proud of the place where you were born – waving a flag, writing in your native language, or speaking about the negative aspects of the war – German immigrants could be thrown in prison or arrested, forcing them to censor themselves or face the wrath of the government of the United States. This separated German immigrants from other U.S. citizens, making them an easier target for discrimination and giving the American people the opportunity to falsely accuse them of treason and harbor hostility toward the nation into which they were born. With World War I at the forefront of every citizen's mind, the Wilson administration took advantage of it and instigated the idea of ​​"us versus them" to gain the American public's support for these unjust laws. Throughout the history of the United States, it is evident that laws enacted are intended to rein in those who oppose the president's point of view at the time, this is especially true of acts of espionage and sedition. These acts targeted German immigrants who came to the United States seeking refuge in one way or another. These laws have made many criminals for the simple act of using their first amendment rights, writing about the war in German, or even waving a flag of their home country, which, by the way, are not actions that warrant the name of "betrayal". ”, “sabotage” or “espionage”. The Espionage Act, still in effect, is and has been used during periods of war such as the Cold War, World War II, and the Red Scare. The Espionage and Sedition Acts greatly increased presidential power and the power of those directly under the president. By “alternating” German immigrants, the president created a law enforcement system that wrongfully arrested and imprisoned mostly innocent immigrants. Of the two thousand arrested for violating these acts, none were violating the sabotage or espionage portions of the Espionage Act, but all, in one way or another, were guilty of sedition (using their First Amendment right to speak about the war). when they deem it necessary, waving the flag of their country of origin or publishing documents in their native language). A prominent example is Eugene V. Debs, the socialist presidential candidate of the time, who was arrested and sent to prison for ten years for giving a speech that “hindered recruiting” (New York Times, 1921). The speech in question was one in which Debs urged the American public to resist the draft and talked about the war and President Woodrow Wilson. Spending nearly five years of his prison sentence, he was finally released under the administration of the next president, Warren Harding. Executive Order 9066 was an order passed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This act targeted Japanese Americans solely based on discrimination and retaliation for a crime that many did not participate in, support, or even immigrate from the country where the attacks came from. Executive Order 9066 was a revamp of the World War I Alien Enemies Act, which sought to get rid of all Japanese, Italian, and German non-citizens. The order greatly increased the Secretary of War's power to carry out this task. It prescribed military areas and gave the military authority to banish any citizen within a radius of fifty or.