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As the crisis with France calmed, public support for the acts quickly dissipated. Popular outrage against the laws not only helped unify the Republicans, but provided a powerful platform for their campaign in 1800. The election of 1800 saw Thomas Jefferson defeat John Adams in the presidential contest, and Republicans regained a majority in the Congress. The Republican Congress repealed the Naturalization Act in 1802. The two Alien Acts and the Sedition Act contained provisions to expire automatically in the first years of the new century. Many of the issues raised by the controversy over the Alien and Sedition Acts remained prominent. During the War of 1812 Republicans sought to destroy the Federalists for their support of a foreign enemy. The arguments that the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions advanced on behalf of state rights would reappear in controversies over secession in the nineteenth century. Most fundamentally, the delicate challenge of preserving civil liberties in the face of wartime concerns over national security continued into the twenty-first century. * Topics & Authors * Science * Law & Politics * History * Business * Social Sciences * Arts * Health Home > Major Acts of Congress > Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 * Major Acts of Congress * Resources * About * Get help in the Law & Politics Group * A * B * C * D * E * F * G * H * I * J * K * L * M * N * O * P * Q * R * S * T * U * V * W * X * Y * Z Search Major Acts of Congress: Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 1.