Position of the Founders.
This was the position of the advocates of the right of secession, and the reasoning upon which they based their claim.
The principle so declared, had been frequently asserted by States and statesmen, in the most solemn manner.
Thus, upon the passage of the Alien and Sedition laws, the celebrated resolutions of 1798 were adopted by the legislatures of
Kentucky and
Virginia—the first of which was prepared by
Jefferson, and the second by
Madison.
These resolutions, thus prepared by the author of the
Declaration of Independence and the father of the
Constitution, asserted in the most solemn form that the government was a compact between States; that its powers were limited to those specifically delegated in the
Constitution; and that the States had the right to determine for themselves when the
Federal government exceeded its authority.
These declarations became the subject of assault and defence, but so far from the principles annunciated being repudiated, at the very next election,
Mr. Jefferson was elected
President of the
United
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States, and after a service of eight years, was succeeded by
Mr. Madison, who filled the office for a like period.
