Neutrality Act of 1818

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Neutrality Act of 1818
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Long titleAn Act in addition to the “Act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States,” and to repeal the acts therein mentioned.
Enacted bythe 15th United States Congress
EffectiveJune 5, 1794
Citations
Public law Pub. L. Tooltip Public Law (United States)  15–88
Statutes at Large 3  Stat.   447
Legislative history

The Neutrality Act of 1818 was a United States law that repealed and replaced the Neutrality Act of 1794 and Neutrality Act 1817. The Act largely amended the previous two acts by repealing and replacing such Acts instead of directly amending the two Acts.

Contents

Evolution

The Neutrality Act of 1818 was updated in 1838 during the 1837 Rebellions in Canada.

The Neutrality Act of 1818 was eventually codified as 18 U.S.C.   § 956 et seq. , including 18 U.S.C.   § 960, among other sections. [1]

Recent applications

In 1981, nine men involved in Operation Red Dog were sentenced to three years in prison pursuant to the successor statute of the Neutrality Act of 1818; they had planned to overthrow the government of Dominica. [2] [3]

In the 2007 Laotian coup d'état conspiracy allegation, the United States government alleged after a sting operation that a group of conspirators planned to violate the successor statute of the Neutrality Act of 1818 by overthrowing the government of Communist Laos. [4] The United States Government has since dropped all charges against these defendants.

In May 2016 four United States residents were convicted of violating the successor statute of the Neutrality Act of 1818 for their role in the 2014 Gambian coup d'état attempt. [5]

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References

  1. Jules Lobel (1983), "The Rise and Decline of the Neutrality Act: Sovereignty and Congressional War Powers in United States Foreign Policy", Harvard International Law Journal, 24
  2. "2 Guilty in New Orleans for Plot on Dominica Invasion", The New York Times, UPI, June 21, 1981, archived from the original on 2017-10-08
  3. "Klansmen Get 3-year Terms", Boston Globe, July 23, 1981
  4. Weiner, Tim (2008-05-11). "Gen. Vang Pao's Last War". The New York Times Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-04-10. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  5. Johnson, Alex (2016-05-13). "Four Americans Sentenced in Failed Gambian Coup". NBC News . Archived from the original on 2021-07-04. Retrieved 2021-07-03.