Map, visualize, and explore the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act in October 2001
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Under the direction of President John Adams, the Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a criminal offence to publish statements critical of the federal government. The first individual to be tried under the law was Rep. Matthew Lyon, who unsurprisingly had voted against its passage. Lyon was re-elected from jail.
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 ended the decades-running debate over bimetalism and restored the U.S. to 'gold standard' currency -- the system lasted until 1971