Virginia And Kentucky Resolution Research Paper

While America was in its infancy, the people awkwardly tried to made sense of the freedom they had come to poses. Those considered elites worked to build a government that was both successful and capable of keeping the peace, while citizens found themselves still in the fight for freedom. The economy was in shambles after the revolution, and the elites were rising up to set forth a government better than the monarchy they left. The Strong central government began to come into place, but the states felt their freedom was being choked in the process. The American people began to resist the stronghold of government, resulting in events like the whiskey rebellion, the Virginia and Kentucky resolution, and the Northwest ordinance (Sheflin, Early National Period).
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolution represents the challenges the nation faced with their new freedom because it
The Alien and Sedition Acts were brought about in 1789 (Sheflin, Early National Period). The law stated that the American people were not allowed to protests the government, the years required for naturalization going up from five to fourteen, and any citizen could be imprisoned or expelled if they spoke out against the government or were deemed dangerous by the president (Sheflin, Early National Period). The early American government was making it quite clear there would be no rebellion. That if the government saw fit, they could do what they needed to keep the peace, even if that meant silencing the people (Sheflin, Early National Period). Unlike the state's response to the Whisky act where rebellion and mob action was taking place, the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions were a practical, and more moderate path for the states to get the freedom they