Free Press Crisis of 1800: Thomas Cooper's Trial for Seditious Libel

by Peter Charles Hoffer

Book Overview

The far-reaching Sedition Act of 1798 was introduced by Federalists to suppress Republican support of French revolutionaries and imposed fines and imprisonment "if any person shall write, print, utter or publish . . . scandalous and malicious writing or writings against the government of the United States." Such a broadly and loosely defined offense challenged the freedom of the American press and gave the government the power to drag offending newspaper...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0700617655
• ISBN13: 9780700617654
• Release Date: February 2011
• Publisher: University Press of Kansas
• Length: 166 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.5"