Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

During the late 18th century, political and social disagreements between the American colonies and Britain led to the most significant event in American History, the American Revolution. The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 to 1783. It is the reason as to why we became the United States. The original thirteen colonies did not agree with the Parliament of Great Britain governing them without representation so they rejected and expelled royal officials and Provincial Congress. Two major political parties formed the Federalists and the Republicans. These two parties were always at great competition with each other to gain public popularity. At the same time tension started between the United States and France and an undeclared war was ensuing with France. These were the two causes that led to the administration of John Adams passing out the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1978. There were four acts in total, the first three were regarding the rights of immigrant. The Sedition Act however, was perhaps the most controversial. It was deemed unconstitutional because it violated the right of speech and allowed the prosecution of anyone who voiced or printed their opinions if it went against the government or the president of the United States. In response to the Sedition Act Thomas Jefferson drafted the Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 and James Madison drafted the Virginia Resolutions of 1798 with the help of Thomas Jefferson. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions were written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They declared the Sedition Act to be in violation of the First and Tenth Amendments. These resolutions stated that the states had the right to deem any law passed by congress unconstitutional if it violated the Bill of Rights. They argued that the Constitution was an agreement between the states so the government had no right to exercise powers not delegated to it and if they did then the states had the right to void them. In other words, the states

References: Brinkley, Alan (2010). The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York. Bill of rights institute. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.billofrights.org Roland, J. (2011, Nov 4). Constitution society. Retrieved from http://www.constitution.org/cons/kent1798.htm Jefferson, T. (1798). Virginia resolution of 1798. Retrieved from http://www.constitution.org/cons/virg1798.htm