Compare these two websites then comment on the similarities and differences between the Alien and Sedition Acts of the 1790's and the Patriot Act of recent years. Was either necessary? What dangers faced each society and government? Could America survive without either?
http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/sedition/http://www.npr.org/news/specials/patriotact/patriotactprovisions.html