in the alien and sedition, and priestley is the on the hit list of people who should be deported for their criticism of the adams administration, and it's an extraordinary turning point in history because right there you have a very important building here with with our dissenting intellectuals in this country. priestley at this point was the most prominent scientist and theologian in the united states and had the audacity to criticize the adams administration and we all know from the various forms how he could be, and so there was this big question of what kind of country are we going to be. are we going to arrest and deport and incarcerate people like joseph priestley or are we going to let them write their pamphlets and argue it out in the public sphere so right there he was probably the biggest kind of test of adams true feeling about the alien and sedition and priestley in all this and he was fiercely combustible and thin skinned, adams and this one point decided to bling and he advised his people to not do anything with priestley putative he said he's an old man living out in t

he was petrified that the country itself would fall apart if sedition was allowed, disloyalty. >> i was going to ask you to comment on the milieu been read. the answer is, they had been read. the postmaster was reading the papers first and delivering them later. he was introduced to the world beyond his up to by the newspapers that covered springfield and chicago and even washington. it awakened the world in him, but it awakened it in a way that was extremely partisan. he read democratic and republican papers. in that world, he developed greater ambitions. i think they were fueled by what he read was possible from the newspapers. of course, educated himself in the law just as he educated himself in the bible, geometry, shakespeare. >> the military thought this was necessary for the war effort in one way or the other, guided or misguided as it might have been. but was that because lincoln created an atmosphere that said go ahead and do it or was it because they were going to do it and he would react to it and perhaps allow it or perhaps not allow it? >> lincoln is known as the great pard

he just was petrified that the country itself would fall apart if "sedition" was allowed, disloyalty. >> i was going to ask you to comment for that moment or two on the milieu he did come from. because what we've heard tonight isn't quite consistent with our view of the great country lawyer. >> well, he -- remember his first real job as an adult or one of his first real jobs was as a postmaster in the town of new salem. and people got their newspapers from the big city like springfield by post. and they soon began wondering why their newspapers came instead of in their usual crisp folded fashion clumped together well, the answer is, they had been read. the postmaster was reading the papers first and delivering them later. he was introduced to the world beyond his mill town by the newspapers that covered springfield and chicago and even washington. it awakened the world in him but awakened it in a way that was extremely partisan. he read democratic and republican papers, flaying away at each other, eventually over the mexican war, eventually over the sectional crisis. in that world, he

even alexander hamilton thought the sedition act went too far. but you have to understand the fear that these people had. i think the goal of historian is not to take sides and say the federalists were right or the republicans were right, but rather to explain why people thought as they did and acted as they did. and in this case, there were legitimate fears on both sides. >> there's also at that time which must have added to the disquiet if not to the fear, there's social changes going on as people figure out what this new political system means and what its ramifications are. and you had -- i love it when you or any historian highlights a story that is unfamiliar. and it may involve a familiar person, but it just throws a light on something. and one of my favorites in this book involves john rotledge who was a considerable figure in south carolina and at the constitutional convention. and then someone i had certainly heard of, and i guess that's the point of the story, a man named william thompson. but this throws a light on that shift. >> righ

the free government when traditional opponents became enemies and criticism was seen by many as sedition. lincoln concluded that he must save the whole constitution even if it meant temporarily sacrificing specific guarantees. one of the first to feel the institutions was the press. the union banned the use of the mails and commercial export with all of the rebellious states and assumed control of the nation's telegraph system. the new rules applied to manufacturers and exporters of all sorts of products including newspapers. one of the first test cases involved a philadelphia publication called "the christian observer" who had a rather tenuous affiliation with episcopal church which said we have nothing to do with this favor and religious affiliation did nothing to mask its pro-sessation and pro-slooifry bias. after bull run the paper ran a story containing to contain authentic letter. which remained the only route for northern trips to arrive to the defense of washington. on august 22nd, a month after bull run, federal forces invaded the offices of the christian observer where they cle

of free government, when traditional opponents became enemies and criticism was seen by many as sedition. lincoln concluded he must save the whole constitution even if it meant temporarily sacrificing specific guarantees. -- institutions to feel the effect was the press. as for bull run, the administration turned particular attention to criticism that he and his cabinet ministers thought had fueled the defeat and now threatened to encourage border states like kentucky, missouri, and maryland to leave the union and join the confederacy. the union banned the use of the mails and commercial export with all of the rebellious states. the new rules applied to manufacturers and exporters of all sorts of products including newspapers. one called the christian observer who had a tenuous relationship with the episcopal church and its religious affiliation did nothing to mask the pro-secession and pro-slavery bias. a month after bull run, the paper ran a story claiming to contain an authentic letter from a virginian who charged forces on the march there had been guilty of gross, brutal, fiendish, d

more precise on what the standards were that lincoln used in judging between political dissent, sedition, and treason, and how did he actually -- did he expound on this publicly? and if so, can you tell us what he said about it? >> and i'll pickiback and add personal criticism too. >> we're getting a lot of feedback. >> i wonder what we can do about that. >> is there a doctor in the house? >> try that. >> you're very generously assuming that he had a set standard of rules and rationales. i haven't found any. cases were brought by generals independently of the commander in chief. he was later asked to ratify or disown or overrule. the post office that -- the post master general closed down the mails to exports to the confederacy. the old three-mic syndrome. i know it well. the war department acted. if there are standards, they are, number one, endangering union armies either on the march to washington or in hostile territory. >> there was a concern about the effect of speech on recruiting and desertion. >> yes. there was a concern that the expressions of -- >> was it an excuse they used?

of free government, when traditional opponents became enemies and criticism was seen by many as sedition. lincoln concluded that he must save the whole constitution even if it meant temporarily sacrificing specific guarantees. and one of the first to feel institutions to feel the effect was the press. after the battle of bull run which the union lost in july, the lincoln administration turned particular attention to criticism that he and his cabinet ministers thought had fuelled the defeat and now threatened to encourage border states like kentucky, missouri and maryland to least union and join the confederacy. the union banned the use of the mails and commercial export with all of the rebellious states, and assumed control of the nation's telegraph system. the new rules applied to manufacturers and exporters of all sorts of product, including newspapers. one of the first test cases involved a philadelphia publication called "the christian observer, who had a rather tenuous affiliation with the episcopal church which basically said we have nothing to do with this paper. and its religious

considered so extreme, even for charles apologists that parliament chose to to cut ties timid criminal sedition. blocked charges against him and elevated him to bishop and made him a member of the privy council comment closest advisers. montague then said before god it will never be until we have our own inquisitions. that is the kind of pressure there were putting on dissenters. so these pressures, before they erupted in revolution said dow's the puritans. now we come to john winthrop, governor of massachusetts. he was as one of his critics at the same time his great mislay command as the exemplify the absolute best of the values, he was an avatar of conventional wisdom. he was entirely constructive and not destructive, but there was absolutely nothing original about him. give you a sense of how important christ was to him and, perhaps, to most, if not all puritans, i want to read from his private journal. he wrote the most sweet love of my heavenly husband. he spoke of my marriage chamber. so high was rest with his love. he kissed me with the kisses of his mouth. my heart leaped with the need