Final answer:
The Alien and Sedition Acts were laws targeting immigrants and limiting free speech, seen as overreaching federal power. Democratic-Republicans viewed them as unconstitutional, which led to the controversial Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and ultimately their repeal in the Jefferson administration.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Alien and Sedition Acts were a series of four laws enacted in 1798 that targeted immigrants and constrained freedom of speech. The Naturalization Act extended the residency requirement for U.S. citizenship from five years to fourteen. The Alien Act and the Alien Enemies Act empowered the President to deport or jail non-citizens who were deemed a threat, while the Sedition Act criminalized criticism of the government.
These acts were seen by Democratic-Republicans as an overreach of federal power and a threat to individual liberties and states' rights. The subsequent Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions argued that the acts were unconstitutional, introducing the concept of nullification. Although the majority of states did not accept these resolutions, the controversy contributed to a shift in political power, eventually culminating in the acts being repealed under the Jefferson administration.