Kentucky Resolutions in the United States

States` Rights Kentucky Resolutions

Introduction to Kentucky Resolutions

The doctrine of states’ rights, discussed at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, was advanced in 1798 by Thomas Jefferson, later the third president of the U.S., against the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts by the federal government. Holding these enactments to be unconstitutional infringements of the rights of free speech and press, Jefferson drafted the Kentucky Resolutions and secured their passage by the Kentucky legislature (see Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions). The resolutions advanced the thesis that the states had the power to determine the constitutionality of a federal law, and to declare null and void a law that they regarded as unconstitutional. This controversy was resolved, after the inauguration of Jefferson as president in 1801, by the repeal of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Several actions subsequently carried out by Jefferson and by his successor, James Madison, aroused the active opposition of the New England states. Notable among these actions were the acquisition of the Louisiana Territory in 1803 (see Louisiana Purchase), the passage of the Embargo Act of 1807, and the declaration of war against Britain in 1812 (see War of 1812). The resulting hostility of the New England states found its expression in 1814 in the convocation of the abortive Hartford Convention, at which the leaders of these states drew up a series of resolutions embodying states’-rights doctrines.” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

• Information about Kentucky Resolutions in the Encarta Online Encyclopedia

Guide to Kentucky Resolutions