Sedition Act (excerpt)
Approved,
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That if
any person shall write, print, utter or publish, or shall cause or procure to
be written, printed, uttered or publishing, or shall knowingly and willingly
assist or aid in writing, printing, uttering or publishing any false,
scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the
United States, or either house of the Congress of the United States, or the
President of the United States, with intent to defame the said government, or
either house of the said Congress, or the said President, or to bring them, or
either of them, into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them, or
either or any of them, the hatred of the good people of the United States, or
to excite any unlawful combinations therein, for opposing or resisting any law
of the United States, or any act of the President of the United States, done in
pursuance of any such law, or of the powers in him vested by the constitution
of the United States, or to resist, oppose, or defeat any such law or act, or
to aid, encourage or abet any hostile designs of any foreign nation against the
United States, their people or government, then such person, being thereof
convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof,
shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by
imprisonment not exceeding two years.
JONATHAN
THEODORE
SEDGWICK, President of the Senate, pro tempore.
APPROVED,
JOHN
ADAMS, President of the