What did the Virginia Resolutions say about the Alien and Sedition Acts?

OCR: 4 cited passage(s) are machine-read (OCR) text of old printings; quotations reproduce the stored OCR text, misreadings included.

1. WHAT HE SAID (the record)

Record ledger

• ACTION (1798-12-12): James Madison authored the Virginia Resolutions of 1798, which specifically protested the Alien and Sedition Acts. The passage records that the General Assembly of Virginia declared these acts as palpable and alarming infractions of the Constitution, with the Sedition Act violating a right expressly protected by an amendment to the Constitution. (key quote above) [1]
• BELIEF (undated): The Virginia Resolutions, as reported by James Madison, stated that the Alien and Sedition Acts exercised powers not delegated by the Constitution and violated constitutional protections. The resolutions specifically argued that the Alien Act violated the separation of powers and the Sedition Act violated the First Amendment. (key quote above) [2]
• BELIEF (undated): The Virginia Resolutions said the Alien Act exercises a power not delegated to the Federal Government, unites legislative and judicial powers with the Executive, subverts the general principles of free government, and subverts the Federal Constitution's organization and provisions. "Of the 'Alien Act,' it is affirmed by the resolution—1st. That it exercises a power nowhere delegated to the Federal Government. 2d. That it unites legislative and judicial powers to those of the Executive. 3d. That this union of power subverts the general principles of free government. 4th. That it subverts the particular organization and positive provisions of the Federal Constitution." [3]
• BELIEF (undated): The Virginia Resolutions, written by James Madison, condemned the Sedition Act as an overreach of federal authority, arguing that it was not based on any specified power granted to the Federal Government and that it inflicted a death-wound on the sovereignty of the States. (key quote above) [4]
• ACTION (1831-03-27): James Madison wrote the draft of the resolutions offered in 1798 to the Virga. Assembly. The 7th Resolution declared that the Alien and Sedition Acts violated the Constitution of the U.S., but the terms 'not law, but null void and of no force or effect' were stricken out. The Resolution was expressly declaratory, not authorizing resistance. "The Resolution was expressly declaratory, and proceeding from the Legislature only which was not even a party to the Constitution, could be declaratory of opinion only." [5]
• ACTION (undated): In 1798, James Madison prepared Resolutions of the Legislature of Virginia against the Alien and Sedition Laws. This action shows that he formally opposed these laws through the Virginia Resolutions. "1798. December 21. Prepares Resolutions of the Legislature of Vir- ginia against the Alien and Sedition Laws." [6]
• BELIEF (undated): The passage discusses the Virginia Resolutions and their stance on the Alien and Sedition Acts, stating that the debates and Address of the two Houses made no reference to a constitutional right in an individual State to arrest, by force, the operation of a law of the U.S. The immediate object of the Resolutions was to invite other States to concur in declaring the Alien and Sedition laws to be unconstitutional and to cooperate in maintaining rights reserved to the States and the people. "Desired concert among the States for redress against Alien and Sedition laws, as acts of usurped power. Immediate object that of inviting the other States to concur in declaring those laws to be unconstitutional, and to co-operate by necessary and proper measures in maintaining, &c., rights, &c., reserved to the States and the people." [7]
• BELIEF (undated): James Madison believed that the Virginia Resolutions regarded the Alien and Sedition Acts as dangerous in their tendency and unconstitutional in their text, and called for a remedial interposition of the States. "Congress had passed certain acts bearing the name of the alien and sedition laws, which Virginia and some of the other States regarded as not only dangerous in their tendency but unconstitutional in their text, and as calling for a remedial interposition of the States." [8]
• BELIEF (undated): James Madison argued that the Virginia Resolutions claimed an ulterior resort in the authority from which the Supreme Court's power was derived, in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. "It appears, however, from the report itself, which explains the resolutions, that the last resort claimed for the Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of the alien and sedition laws, was understood to require a recurrence to the ulterior resort in the authority from which that of the court was derived." [9]

What cuts against it

• Nothing in the passages cuts against the answer.

2. HOW IT APPLIES (reasoning; inference is marked)

1. The Virginia Resolutions, authored by James Madison, directly addressed the Alien and Sedition Acts.

2. The Resolutions stated that the Alien Act exercised a power not delegated to the Federal Government and violated constitutional protections.

3. The Sedition Act was condemned as an overreach of federal authority, violating a right expressly protected by an amendment to the Constitution.

4. The Resolutions called for a remedial interposition of the States and invited other states to concur in declaring the acts unconstitutional.

5. The Resolutions were explicitly declaratory in nature and did not authorize resistance to the acts.

3. HIS TAKE

Record coverage: DIRECT

Extrapolation: The Virginia Resolutions, authored by James Madison, explicitly condemned the Alien and Sedition Acts as unconstitutional and dangerous to the principles of free government. The Resolutions argued that the Alien Act violated the separation of powers and the Sedition Act violated the First Amendment. The Resolutions invited other states to concur in declaring the acts unconstitutional.

Competing readings: None.

Confidence: High, based on direct statements in the Virginia Resolutions and Madison's later reflections on their intent.