We the People

The Constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. Throughout history, there have been several authoritarian and undemocratic efforts by the government to restrict and curb freedom of speech and press, writes historian James Roger Sharp.

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James Roger Sharp is professor emeritus in the Department of History at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. Sharp has written extensively about the political history of the early Republic, including the book "The Jacksonians Versus the Banks."



By James Roger Sharp | Special to Syracuse.com

Since the beginning of our republic, the United States has been the envy of the world for its democratic institutions -- and thus a beacon for peoples hoping to emulate our free society.



Nonetheless, there have also been times when we have not lived up to our professed ideals.



For instance, there have been several authoritarian and undemocratic efforts by the government to restrict and curb freedom of speech and press. The first, and one of the harshest, was the attempt in 1798 to destroy popular opposition to the administration of President John Adams and his Federalist party.



Most recently, however, President Donald Trump, while he may not be the first president and his party to use fear and attacks upon the press as a political weapon against their opposition, he, as modern president with all of the extraordinary power of the Executive office, is becoming the most dangerous and threatening to the Republic and the Constitution.



In 1798 the United States had a mainly rural and scattered population of around 4 million. Government rested very lightly on the shoulders of our countrymen. The major government service was the Post Office. As late as 1816 there were fewer than 5,000 employees of the federal government and, of those, 3,300 were postal employees.



Nonetheless, comparing 1798 and 2017 is useful. The First Amendment and its protection of speech and the press was seen by our founders as crucial even in an age where government had little power. Indeed, James Madison argued that it was the "most valuable" of all of the Bill of Rights.



In 1798, the United States and France had drifted into an undeclared naval war. The ensuing hysteria and fear that gripped our country resulted in a series of laws that were some of the most undemocratic and disgraceful violations of the First Amendment in our history.



President John Adams and the Federalist majority in Congress harnessed this growing popular fear and frenzy and passed the notorious Alien and Sedition Acts to limit immigration and deport allegedly dangerous foreigners that was denounced by Thomas Jefferson as "worthy of the 8th or 9th century."



But as undemocratic and harsh as these anti-immigrant laws were, the Sedition Law was even more menacing to the Constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech and the press.



It provided for the punishment of any persons who "unlawfully combine or conspire together, with intent to oppose any measure or measures of the government of the United States." The law further prohibited "any false, scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government (or its officers). . . with intent to defame. . .or to bring them. . .into contempt or disrepute; or to excite against them. . .the hatred of the good people of the United States." Infractions could be punished by fines and imprisonment for up to five years.



Peace with France and the election of Thomas Jefferson and the Republicans to power in 1800 ended the crisis, but not without the prosecution and imprisonment of a number of newspaper editors under the Sedition Law.



President Trump has constantly attempted to delegitimize the press with such claims that the press is the "enemy of the people." And he's the first to use the full power of his office and modern mass communication techniques (especially tweets) to widely condemn the press and brand any negative news as "fake news."



Trump's fear-mongering has been consistent throughout his campaign and in his short term in office. In his inaugural address, a dystopian litany of misery, poverty and crime, he promised that this "American carnage" would stop "right here" and "right now."



He has challenged the authority of the federal courts that blocked his ban on immigrants and refugees. And on the campaign trail, candidate Trump ominously warned that the Mexican Government was "forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc."



In all cases, whether it to be terrorists, immigrants, refugees, criminals and Mexicans, Trump is stoking the fears of the public and suggesting that only he can protect the country with more authoritarian and repressive laws. He is the "truth teller" beset by the media who can't be trusted and thus are attacked and disingenuously charged with lying or dangerously downplaying the dangers the country faces.



How does the Trump administration's bashing of its critics, the press and its growing authoritarianism compare with the first assault on freedom of speech and the press? One critical difference is the enormous power of the modern president, which many times magnifies the dangers of the government attacks on fundamental liberties in comparison to the 18th century.



In addition there are two dangerous assumptions that might be tempting. One is that our republic has lasted through many crises and thus is destined to survive into the future. The second is that Trump's presidency is within the boundaries of "normal," which it most certainly is not. He is, disturbingly, an outlier and complacency is not an option.



Freedom of the press and speech are the critical defenses for protecting our democracy. To lose that protective function of a free press is simply a catastrophic and dangerous step closer to an authoritarian state.



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