I was under the impression that was more about open rebellion rather than simple verbal dissent.
No, it targeted simple verbal dissent.
Matthew Lyon, born in Ireland, was a Democratic-Republican congressman from Vermont. He was indicted under the Sedition Act for an essay he had written in the Vermont Journal accusing the administration of "ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation, and selfish avarice". While awaiting trial, Lyon commenced publication of Lyon's Republican Magazine, subtitled "The Scourge of Aristocracy". At trial, he was fined $1,000 and sentenced to four months in prison. After his release, he returned to Congress.
Benjamin Franklin Bache was editor of the Aurora, a Democratic-Republican newspaper. Bache had accused George Washington of incompetence and financial irregularities, and "the blind, bald, crippled, toothless, querulous ADAMS" of nepotism and monarchical ambition. He was arrested for his activities, but he died of yellow fever before trial.
In November 1798, David Brown led a group in Dedham, Massachusetts in setting up a liberty pole with the words, "No Stamp Act, No Sedition Act, No Alien Bills, No Land Tax, downfall to the Tyrants of America; peace and retirement to the President; Long Live the Vice President"...Brown pled guilty but Justice Samuel Chase asked him to name others who had assisted him. Brown refused, was fined $480, and sentenced to eighteen months in prison, the most severe sentence ever imposed under the Sedition Act.
Ehh, it goes too far for that. The only explanation I can come up with is that they had a brain fart and assumed Congress could override the 1st Amendment (the Alien and Sedition Acts predate the concept of judicial review).
I prefer historian Hannah Arendt's quote as an explanation, "The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution." The Federalists had power, and chose to use that power to target their political opponents. They even made sure to write the law so that it expired right before the end of President Adams's term, just in case the Democratic-Republicans won the next election (as was the case).
