The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1798)

held that states could nullify the Alien and

Sedition Acts because these laws

(1) repealed the Northwest Ordinance

(2) placed an unfair tax on whiskey made by

western farmers

(3) violated the Constitution

(4) established limits on universal suffrage

The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions (1789) held that states could nullify the Alien and Sedition Acts because these laws (3) violated the Constitution. They were penned secretly by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions specifically stated that the states were allowed to call some any acts of Congress unconstitutional if they were not authorized by the Constitution. This was regarded as a strict view of the Constitution.