What do both resolutions specifically state they are in favor of or continue to support?

What laws are the resolutions protesting?

What specific arguments does Virginia give against these laws?

What specific right does Kentucky claim the states have and why do they have it?

Can you think of any reasons why Virginia and Kentucky were so united on this issue?

If a state or group thought a law was unconstitutional today, what would they do about it?

Why didn't Kentucky and Virginia simply do that for these laws?

Answer: The Virginia Resolution, authored by Madison, said that by enacting the Alien and Sedition Acts, Congress was exercising "a power not delegated by the Constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto; a power, which more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is leveled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right." Madison hoped that other states would register their opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts as beyond the powers given to Congress.