Excerpt from The True Doctrine of State Rights: With an Examination of the Record of the Democratic and Republican Parties in Connection With SlaveryLet us now look into the nature of that con¿ict, and of'the doctrine alluded to. During the administration of John Adams, the notorious alien and sedition laws were passed. The alien act pro vided, in substance, that the President should have power to order all aliens in the United States, whom he in his discretion thought dangerous to the peace and safety of the nation, to depart from the country. In regard to such aliens, he was invested with the exercise of legislative, judicial, and executive power. The sedition act was hostile to the freedom of the press, and its principle was to shield the President, and Congress, and officers of the government, against an unrestrained and unfettered criticism of their official acts. On the passage of these laws, Jefferson denounced them as palpable vio lations of the constitution, and as usurpations of power, dangerous to the rights of the states and to the liberties of the people. Through his instrumentality, appeals were made to the different state govern ments to take action against them, and to this end the famous Vir ginia and Kentucky resolutions off 1798 and '99, denouncing them, were passed, followed by the celebrated report of Mr. Madison.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.