Virginia Resolutions:

THE VIRGINIA REPORT OF 1799-1800, TOUCHING THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS; TOGETHER WITH THE VIRGINIA RESOLUTIONS OF DECEMBER 21, 1798, THE DEBATE AND PROCEEDINGS THEREON IN THE HOUSE OF DELEGATES OF VIRGINIA, AND SEVERAL OTHER DOCUMENTS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE REPORT AND RESOLUTIONS.

Richmond: J.W. Randolph, 121 Main Street... 1850. 264pp. Bound in contemporary marbled cloth and quarter calf [light rubbing and wear], with gilt-lettered red morocco spine label. Very Good plus.

Publication was doubtless stimulated by the heated struggle over the question of Slavery in the Mexican Cession, which resulted in the Compromise of 1850.
Fearing that the Alien and Sedition Acts created a national despotism which repressed liberties of speech and assembly, Virginia issued Resolutions in 1798, drafted primarily by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. They argued that the Union was formed by the compact of sovereign states and that, when the national government exercised powers not explicitly delegated to it, each such state "has an equal right to judge for itself, as well of infractions as of the mode and measure of the redress." They relied upon the Tenth Amendment, reserving to the States or the People powers not specifically delegated to the national government, and the First Amendment, protecting freedom of speech and press.
This book prints the Report, the debates in the Virginia House of Delegates, its instructions to Congressional representatives, and an Appendix containing the famous letters of James Madison, 'Father of the Constitution,' written during the Nullification Crisis. Former President Madison denounces Nullification as incompatible with constitutional government. "What the fate of the constitution of the United States would be if a small proportion of the states could expunge parts of it particularly valued by a large majority, can have but one answer."
Cohen 6310. Item #29701

Price: $250.00