At the Mercy of One Man

Plans for enforcement of the Alien Act were not limited to the three deportation orders signed by the president. John Adams wanted to deport a number of other people, and Timothy Pickering’s wish list was far longer, not only of French citizens but of United Irishmen, foreign-born newspaper editors, and other radicals. Yet the remainder of the printed deportation orders remained blank and unsigned. The French remained in large numbers; the only ones who left did so voluntarily. The Irish, including even some founders of the United Irishmen who fled to America, experienced no expulsions; the sole one who agreed