Alien & Sedition Acts Readers Theater Script | Grades 6-8

Alien & Sedition Acts — Grades 6‑8 Readers Theater

Put free speech on trial as Adams jails editors and Jefferson drafts bold resolutions—students debate whether security laws can strangle liberty.

• Grade bands: 6-8
• Characters: 15
• Word count: 2300

Perfect For

• Government & rights discussions
• Speech vs. security debates
• Dramatic newsroom reenactments

(a single PDF with links to Google Docs/Slides, if print format is preferred you can download from your Google Drive to DOC/PDF/PPT/etc.)

What’s Included

• Editable script (~2300 words, 10 scenes, Google Doc/PDF)
• Teacher guide (~10‑15 pages, Google Doc/PDF)
• Student worksheet (~25 Google Slides/PPTX)
• Self‑graded Google Forms quiz (20 questions)

Will this meet your needs?
Download this Free King Philip’s War RT Script first and try one before you buy one :)

Scene Synopsis

• Adams defends the acts, sparking clash with Jefferson.
• Citizens fear French plots.
• Militia drills justify new laws.
• Editors arrested for dissent.
• Sedition Act publicly read.
• Jefferson pens Kentucky Resolutions.
• Press prints defiant editorials.
• Resolutions challenge Alien Act.
• Parties clash, liberty questioned.
• Nation divided, freedoms tested.

Want More Social Studies Activities?

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4. Proclamation of 1763 (1763)
5. The Northwest Ordinance (1787)
6. The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)
7. The Barbary Wars (1801–1805)
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6. The Second Continental Congress (1775)
7. Common Sense and the Declaration of Independence (1776)
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10. Foreign Allies: Lafayette and France (1777–1778)
11. Sybil Ludington and Molly Pitcher (1777)
12. Hamilton and His Duel (1780s–1804)
13. Yorktown and the Treaty of Paris (1781–1783)
14. Washington Steps Down: The Man Who Would Be King (1783)
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