Custom essays on Virginia Resolution

The Virginia Resolution fairly defends the constitutional rights that have been threatened with abuse by the acts of the government under the guidance of John Adams.
It was resolved that the General Assembly defends the Constitution of the United States to provide the good of the nation and prosperity of the citizens; that it speaks against any infractions of the main law of the State; that it is intended to protect the main rights and liberties of the Americans; that it is against combining all the states into one sovereignty because it turns the country into monarchy and contradicts the form of republic; that it is to protect the right for free communication stated by the amendments to the Constitution and violated by the Alien Act and the Sedition Act, the Liberty of Conscience and of the Press; that they declare the mentioned acts to be unconstitutional and finally that they demand the acts to be examined by the legislature of each state.
In this way the Virginia Resolution comes into the argument with the Alien Act and the Sedition Act. The Alien Act (An Act Respecting Alien Enemies, approved on July 6, 1798) decreed that in case of war or any aggression from the foreign nation, any citizen referring to that alien nation should be caught, comprehended, and removed from the state, or at least after being checked they should restricted in actions and controlled by the armed forces. The Sedition Act (An Act in Addition to the Act, Entitled “An Act for the Punishment of Certain Crimes Against the United States”, approved on July 14, 1798) warns against any suspicious assemblies of citizens, insurrection against the representatives of power in the US, against writing or publishing any information threatening the authority of the power and against supporting the ideology of any hostile state; and it states that the offender should be fined or put into prison. The Virginia resolution has naturally risen against such severe restrictions of human dignity and freedom.
As we know, in 1788 the Constitution of the United States was created and announced the federal government built on the principles of republicanism, equal rights, and civic duty. Very soon he Bill of Rights followed and guaranteed a number of individual rights defended from federal intrusion. By 1798 the USA has had its new President, John Adams for just one year. The acts passed were reasoned as the foreign affairs of the US were not very good, France refused to negotiate for instance, and the government had to do everything to prevent the stroke from the inside.
But still the nation was to react anxiously because their civic rights were going to be broken. And when I was reading the resolution, I couldn’t help agreeing with it as the Acts mentioned seem to be outrageous.
I come to the conclusion that the Virginia resolution was an adequate reaction to the previous actions of the power. While the President, the Congress, and the House of Representatives govern the State as something single and homogeneous, they do the best to defend it from the outer enemy. But the local authorities are closer to people within their states, and they express their will, I think. That’s why passing the document was quite a natural step in the history of the US, and the governors should have revised their decisions.

Works Cited
Gary B., Nash. The American People: Creating a Nation and a Society, Vol. 1 (to 1877) 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2004.
Stein, Mark. How the States Got Their Shapes. New York: Smithsonian Books/Collins, 2008.
“Virginia Resolution – Alien and Sedition Acts” Lillian Goldman Law Library. 20 Mar. 2010.