ABSTRACT More than two centuries since his death, Alexander Hamilton has become the most popular and misunderstood Founding Father. At least partly because of Ron Chernow’s biography and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s blockbuster play, scholars burnish his idealized persona, transforming him from an anti-populist conservative into a political democrat demanding unlimited freedom of speech. Despite the availability of accurate historical accounts since the 1950s, a literature review reveals that historians, biographers, and modern-day journalists continue to misread Hamilton’s concept of press freedom. This article depicts Hamilton more accurately, closely examining his opinions on the Sedition Act of 1798 and his general attitude toward dissent. Hamilton favored the Sedition Act, which, although its provisions were more liberal than the common law, nevertheless violated the First Amendment. Moreover, employing the state courts and the common law, Hamilton sought to jail and bankrupt newspaper editors who opposed him. He demanded freedom of the press only when the expositor’s views mimicked his own.

中文翻译：

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亚历山大·汉密尔顿（Alexander Hamilton）和《煽动法》（Sedition Act）：创始人对新闻自由的含糊

摘要亚历山大·汉密尔顿（Alexander Hamilton）逝世已有两个多世纪，他已成为最受欢迎和被误解的开国元勋。至少部分是由于罗恩·切尔诺（Ron Chernow）的传记和林·曼努埃尔·米兰达（Lin-Manuel Miranda）的大片剧本，学者们磨砺了他理想化的角色，使他从反民粹主义者转变为要求无限言论自由的政治民主人士。尽管自1950年代以来就有准确的历史记录可用，但文献回顾显示，历史学家，传记作者和现代新闻工作者继续误读汉密尔顿的新闻自由概念。这篇文章更准确地描绘了汉密尔顿，仔细研究了他对1798年《煽动叛乱法》的看法以及他对异议的普遍态度。汉密尔顿赞成《煽动法》，尽管该法的规定比普通法更为宽松，但是违反了第一修正案。此外，汉密尔顿利用州法院和普通法，试图将反对他的报纸编辑入狱并破产。他仅在说明者的观点与他的观点相仿时才要求新闻自由。