The Sedition Act and the Assault on Freedoms of Press and Speech: The Missing Half of the Sedition Act Cases

Chapter 7 locates twenty-two unrecognized prosecutions of newspaper editors, political leaders, and others under the Sedition Act of 1798, and corroborates their occurrence in court records. That means that five early justices of the Supreme Court were involved in more than twice as many prosecutions as have been recognized before. The twenty-two added prosecutions more than double the number of confirmed Sedition Act prosecutions, and show that the attack on opponents of the Adams administration was far broader than has been recognized. Chapter 7 also identifies three unsuccessfully attempted indictments and six instructions to prosecute still more individuals under the Sedition Act.