The First Amendment did not shape the Nation’s Freedom of the Press right – The Sedition Act of 1798 did

 

 

Our Freedom of the Press right bore itself as a necessity of liberty in 1791, but changed with the Sedition Act of 1798. The act attacked Anti-Federalists and Anti-Federalists Paper publications, though the Anti-Federalists Papers are what caused the Bill of Rights inclusion in the U.S. Constitution - Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice, Monica Marquez, agrees.

 

Anti-Federalists supporting the Constitution (with a Bill of Rights) and Federalists supporting the Constitution (without a Bill of Rights) finally agreed to integrate both in the American Constitutional framework. But just for seven years.

 

Our Freedom of the Press right was sabotaged only seven years later by the federalists, who opposed it being there originally, in 1798 with the Alien and Sedition Acts.

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"Too many people are unaware of the Alien and Sedition Acts and how they impacted our Freedom of the Press." said Dr. David Wolfgang, a communication law professor at Colorado State University.

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Federalist President John Adams and the federalists' controlled 5th Congress enacted the act under fear of war with France. The act passed only with a promised expiration date in 1801, but the Freedom of the Press right was now broken.

 

This was acknowledged in 1931 in Near v. Minnesota, proving press prior restraint existed. Until this time, federal judiciary guidance was rooted with Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase. Using the the Sedition Act, he targeted newspapers writing against the federalists during President John Adam's administration.

 

“Targets of the act tended to be the editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers who criticized the federalist administration of President John Adams.” (McNamara)

 

Chase was a passionate federalist, who also believed liberty stood for property protection and citizens should not vote, unless they owned property. He said this would "Certainly and rapidly destroy all protection to property, and all security to personal liberty." (Federal Judicial Center) 

 

Before Chase was impeached, he had caused tremendous harm to the free press, with at least 10 convictions and 17 indictments that are considered comical today. (McNamara)

 

What is comical or ironic? The federalists used the press to mass-decimate in newspapers, doctrine not supporting Freedom of the Press (The Federalists Papers). Would there be a Bill of Rights in the Constitution without the Anti-Federalists Papers being published also?

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"Probably not." said Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice, Monica Marquez, when asked the question: If the Anti-Federalist Papers had not been published, would there be a Bill of Rights in the Constitution?

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Justice Marquez led this discussion in her chamber office with Colorado State pre-law students on April 11, 2025, when she asked the group about their knowledge of the Federalists Papers.

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If the Sedition Act had passed less than nine years earlier, Anti-Federalists would have been prosecuted and the Anti-Federalist papers destroyed, leaving the nation without a Bill of Rights. The Supreme Court acknowledged this travesty 169 years later, in 1964 with New York Times v. Sullivan.

 

Justice Brennan delivering the major opinion said, “Although the Sedition Act was never tested in this Court, the attack upon its validity has carried the day in the court of history.”

 

Today, the Act of 1798 is generally regarded as a violation of the First Amendment and a mistake. This suggests that most of the nation’s development did not include a free press, with Sedition Act influence greater than seven years with a true First Amendment.

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Commenting on the Sedition Act, Colorado State University student Henry Warfield, studying history and math said ,"Although John Adams did great things as president...in many settings he is known as the 2nd president and the Sedition Act."

 

Warfield also "absolutely agrees" with Justice Marquez concerning the critical need of the Anti-Federalists Papers for the Bill of Rights ratification.

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Freedom of the Press, before the Sedition Act, caused the Anti-Federalists Papers and the Bill of Rights. Freedom of the Press after the Sedition Act, was restrained from publishing.

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Has the Freedom of the Press overcome 166 years of persecution under remnants of the Sedition Act since that travesty was acknowledged in 1964 with NYT v. Sullivan? The case did grant many civil law protections, but government data access and a free press to report the information are still hindered by the Sedition Act of 1798 today.

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