History glossary
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions
1798-1799 state resolutions opposing the Alien and Sedition Acts and asserting a states' rights theory of constitutional resistance.
- Category
- Political resolutions
- Region
- United States
- Date range
- 1798-1799
What it means
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, secretly drafted by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, argued that states could protest unconstitutional federal laws. They were written against the Alien and Sedition Acts and became important in later debates over federal power and states' rights.
