The Federalists began passing a series of bills known as the Alien and Sedition Acts to protect the country from citizens of enemy powers. The witch hunt cast a shadow over all foreigners in Philadelphia, especially those with ties to France. Kosciuszko, who had been mistaken for a Frenchman during the American Revolution, and wrongly accused of being a Jacobin during the Polish revolution, was considered a suspicious character by some of Federalists. It didn’t help that he openly supported Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans.
