John adams alien and sedition acts were intended to silence the republican press criticism of his administration, but that’s not what happened. instead, the sedition act invited additional controversy. in response, james madison and thomas jefferson worked with virginia and kentucky to pass resolutions in opposition. which of the following statements correctly describe the virginia and kentucky resolutions and their significance?

Question: John adams alien and sedition acts were intended to silence the republican press criticism of his administration, but that’s not what happened. instead, the sedition act invited additional controversy. in response, james madison and thomas jefferson worked with virginia and kentucky to pass resolutions in opposition. which of the following statements correctly describe the virginia and kentucky resolutions and their significance?

The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions were political statements drafted in 1798 and 1799, in which the Kentucky and Virginia legislatures took the position that the federal Alien and Sedition Acts were unconstitutional. They argued that the states had the right to declare null and void any acts of Congress that were not authorized by the Constitution. The resolutions were important because they posited a theory of states' rights that would be used to support secession in the antebellum period. They also contributed to the compact theory of the Union, which held that the states, not the Supreme Court, were the ultimate arbiters of the constitutionality of federal laws.