tion, they equally resolve not to submit the laws, made before the existence of the present government by this (then independent State) to the adjudication of any power on earth, while the freedom of the Federal Government shall afford any constitutional means of redress.
Impressed with the singular merits of the present case, and deprecating the many and complicated evils which must be the necessary consequence of establishing the power claimed by the courts of the United States, and its tendency to produce disaffection to our Government, the Legislature of New Hampshire rest assured that a speedy and just decision will be had, and that the rights of State Governments and the interests of their citizens will be secured against the exercise of a power of a court, or any body of men under Congress, of carrying into effect an unconstitutional decree of a court instituted by a former Congress, and which, in its effects, would unsettle property and tear up the laws of the several states.
Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions.
1798, 1799.
It has been deemed unnecessary to reprint these resolutions in this series, as this has already been done in various publications. Among the most accessible and convenient of such reprints may be mentioned the following:
American History Leaflets, No. 15. (10c. A. Lowell & Co., New York, 1894). William MacDonald, Editor. Select Documents, illustrative of the History of the United States, 148–160. (The Macmillan Co., New York, 1898.) Howard W. Preston, Documents, illustrative of American History, 283–295. (Putnam's, New York, 1886.) The Federalist (Ford's ed., New York, 1898), Appx. 679–686. Elliot's Debates, 528–532, 540–545 (ed. 1861). For a facsimile of a copy of the Kentucky resolutions of 1798, as sent to the other States, cf. Writings of Jefferson (Ford's ed., New York, 1896), VII, inserted between pages 288 and 289. Jefferson's draft is to be found in his Writings (Ford's ed.), VII, 289–309; Works (ed. 1856), IX, 464–471. Also important portions in Am. History Leaflets, No. 15, 17–21. For history of the same, cf. E. D. Warfield, Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 (New York, 1887). For additional bibliography, cf. Channing and Hart, Guide to American History, § 165.
