Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Dissertations Department of History 8-11-2015 Ambiguous Union: Madison, Jefferson and the Principles of '98, 1798-1834 Jeffrey E. Morrison Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss Recommended Citation Morrison, Jeffrey E., "Ambiguous Union: Madison, Jefferson and the Principles of '98, 1798-1834." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2015. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss/47 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ! ! AMBIGUOUS!UNION:!MADISON,!JEFFERSON!AND!THE!“PRINCIPLES!OF!‘98,”!1798?1834! ! ! by! ! ! JEFFREY!E.!MORRISON! ! ! Under!the!Direction!of!H.!Robert!Baker,!PhD! ! ! ABSTRACT! The!Constitution!of!the!United!State!has!never!Been!a!document!with!a!fixed!and! determinaBle!meaning,!and!demanded!continual!reinterpretation.!During!the!early! repuBlic,!legal!and!political!Battles!over!constitutional!meaning!were!commonplace,!leading! to!claims!of!disloyalty!as!well!as!threats!of!violence.!When!those!battles!occurred,! challenges!to!actions!of!the!federal!government!often!were!done!in!the!name!of!the!Virginia! and!Kentucky!Resolutions,!and!the!“Principles!of!‘98.”!Reflecting!one!important!strand!of! mainstream!political!thought!in!the!early!republic,!the!Virginia!and!Kentucky!Resolutions! were!later!employed!By!Pennsylvanians,!who!militarily!resisted!federal!efforts!to!enforce!a! Supreme!Court!decision,!to!New!Englanders,!who!effectively!nullified!certain!federal!laws! ! i! ! ! during!the!War!of!1812,!and!to!South!Carolinians,!who!nullified!a!federal!tariff!and! threatened!secession.!! Authored!By!James!Madison!and!Thomas!Jefferson,!respectively,!in!1798,!the! Virginia!and!Kentucky!Resolutions!set!forth!differing!visions!of!the!nation’s!founding.!The! extent!of!these!differences!was!misunderstood!By!many!contemporaries!and!has!been! largely!ignored!or!misunderstood!By!suBsequent!legal!scholars.!Jefferson!interpreted!the! Constitution!as!a!contract!Between!the!sovereign!state!governments,!akin!to!a!treaty! Between!independent!nations.!Thus,!unconstitutional!actions!By!the!federal!government! were!a!Breach!of!the!constitutional!compact,!in!response!to!which!each!state!had!a!right!to! nullify!the!offending!action.!For!Madison,!the!thirteen!peoples&of!the!several!states,!acting! collectively!in!their!highest!sovereign!capacity,&were!the!parties!to!the!constitutional! compact.!Madison!did!not!interpret!the!Constitution!By!application!of!strict!rules!applicaBle! to!contracts!or!treaties!and!did!not!deem!every!Breach!of!the!compact!as!justifying! nullification!by!the!people.!He!rejected!the!notion!that!a!single!state!or!even!the!sovereign! people&of!a!single!state!could!nullify!actions!of!the!federal!government.!Only!a!majority!of! the!people&of!the!several!states!could!nullify!actions!of!the!federal!government,!and!such! right!should!only!Be!exercised!when!the!act!“deeply!and!essentially”!affected!the!“vital! principles!of!their!political!system.”! ! ! ! INDEX!WORDS:!Virginia!and!Kentucky!Resolutions,!James!Madison,!Thomas!Jefferson,! Nullification,!Interposition,!Alien!and!Sedition!Acts,!Hartford!Convention,!John!Marshall,! Nullification!Crisis,!States’!Rights,!Andrew!Jackson.! ! ! ! ii! ! ! AMBIGUOUS!UNION:!MADISON,!JEFFERSON!AND!THE!“PRINCIPLES!OF!‘98,”!1798?1834! ! ! ! ! by! ! ! ! ! JEFFREY!E.!MORRISON! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! A!Dissertation!Submitted!in!Partial!Fulfillment!of!the!Requirements!for!the!Degree!of! Doctor!of!Philosophy! in!the!College!of!Arts!and!Sciences! Georgia!State!University! 2015! ! ! iii! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Copyright!By! Jeffrey!E.!Morrison! 2015! ! ! iv! ! ! AMBIGUOUS!UNION:!MADISON,!JEFFERSON!AND!THE!“PRINCIPLES!OF!‘98,”!1798?1834! ! ! by! ! ! JEFFREY!E.!MORRISON! ! ! Committee!Chair:!! H.!Robert!Baker! Committee:! Wendy!Hamand!Venet! David!Sehat! ! ! ! Electronic!Version!Approved:! ! ! Office!of!Graduate!Studies! College!of!Arts!and!Sciences! Georgia!State!University! August!2015 ! v! ! ! ! DEDICATION ) This!dissertation!is!dedicated!to!many!of!the!people!I!have!loved!most!in!my!life.! First,!this!dissertation!is!dedicated!to!my!mother,!Susan!Hoffman!Morrison,!and!to! her!father!Earl!“Pop!Pop”!Hoffman,!who!first!taught!me!a!love!of!history.!As!a!child,!my! mom!took!me!to!Valley!Forge,!Mount!Vernon,!countless!wax!museums!and!to!the!great! monuments!in!Washington,!D.C.,!Philadelphia!and!Stone!Mountain,!Georgia.!My!grandfather! tutored!me!on!the!great!Battles!of!the!Civil!War!and!Custer’s!Last!Stand.!No!childhood! memories!give!me!greater!joy.!My!mom!encourages!my!love!of!history!to!this!day,!and! other!than!myself,!may!Be!the!happiest!that!my!dissertation!is!now!completed.! Second,!this!dissertation!is!dedicated!to!my!wife,!Sarah!Anne!(Schuster)!Morrison,! and!to!our!two!children,!Michael!Morrison!and!Susan!Morrison.!I!began!this!journey!as!a! frustrated!lawyer!entering!graduate!school!almost!twenty!years!ago!with!a!goal!of!earning! my!Masters!and!Ph.D.,!and!teaching!history!some!day.!Through!years!of!balancing!work! demands!as!an!attorney!with!the!demands!of!earning!two!degrees,!while!ensuring!that!I! fulfilled!my!most!important!and!rewarding!role!as!husband!and!father,!their!love,! encouragement!and!support!for!my!goal!never!waivered.!! Although!none!of!them!will!likely!read!its!entirety,!this!dissertation!never!would! have!been!finished!without!them!in!my!life.! ! iv! ! ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS) ! My!interest!in!the!Virginia!and!Kentucky!Resolutions!Began!during!my!Master!thesis! on!Lincoln’s!record!on!freedom!of!expression!during!the!Civil!War!and!during!the! completion!of!a!seminar!paper!analyzing!Andrew!Jackson’s!response!to!efforts!of!South! Carolina!to!suppress!aBolitionist!literature!in!1835.!My!interest!in!freedom!of!expression! took!me!Back!to!the!Alien!and!Sedition!Acts,!which!is!where!I!found!Madison,!Jefferson!and! the!Principles!of!‘98.!To!the!extent!this!work!offers!any!new!insight!into!the!constitutional! history!of!the!early!republic,!much!of!the!credit!should!go!to!the!History!Department!at! Georgia!State!University.!I!attended!Georgia!State!off!and!on!for!almost!fifteen!years!and! enjoyed!every!single!class,!largely!due!to!the!efforts!and!dedication!of!my!teachers!and!to! the!diverse!group!of!students!who!added!so!much!to!each!seminar.! Many!thanks!to!Richard!Mannion!for!his!continued!encouragement,!prodding!and! support.!Rich!and!I!were!part!of!the!“senior”!brigade!that!regularly!populated!the!nighttime! history!seminars!during!our!early!years!at!Georgia!State.!Most!have!come!and!gone!But! Rich!and!I!Became!good!friends!during!the!process.!Other!than!my!wife!and!mother,!no!one! did!a!Better!joB!of!kicking!me!in!the!rump!to!finish!this!project.! Thanks!to!my!dissertation!committee!members,!David!Sehat!and!Wendy!Venet.! David!arrived!at!Georgia!State!after!I!had!completed!all!of!my!coursework!But!readily! agreed!to!jump!in!and!help!me!bring!this!project!to!a!satisfactory!conclusion.!I!regret!that!I! never!had!the!opportunity!to!Be!a!student!in!one!of!his!seminars.!As!for!Wendy,!she!has!had! a!recurring!role!during!my!long!journey!at!Georgia!State,!Beginning!with!multiple!seminars! on!19th!century!U.S.!history!and!as!my!advisor!for!my!Master!Thesis!on!Lincoln.!She! ! v! ! tolerated!many!a!long?winded!critique!of!Lincoln!and!Jackson!with!grace!and!skillfully! calmed!me!down!when!my!hyperBole!reached!dangerous!levels.!! Finally,!I!thank!my!dissertation!director,!RoB!Baker.!!Since!his!arrival!at!Georgia! State,!he!has!been!a!constant!and!enthusiastic!supporter!of!this!project!and!of!my!dreams!of! someday!Being!a!history!professor.!Intelligent,!creative,!proBing,!and!forever!optimistic,! RoB!always!had!an!encouraging!word!to!get!me!Back!on!track!after!a!few!periods!when!I! felt!like!I!would!never!finish.!I!look!forward!to!the!day!when!I!will!have!my!own!students! and!will!try!to!mirror!RoB’s!aBility!to!Be!a!valued!mentor!who!consistently!inspires.! ! vi! ! TABLE)OF)CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS)...........................................................................................................)v! 1!INTRODUCTION)....................................................................................................................)1! 2!HISTORIOGRAPHY).............................................................................................................)24! 3!THE)ALIEN)AND)SEDITION)ACTS)AND)POPULAR)RESPONSE)...............................)48! 4!THE)VIRGINIA)AND)KENTUCKY)RESOLUTIONS)........................................................)77! 5!MADISON’S)AND)JEFFERSON’S)PRINCIPLES)OF)‘98)..............................................)119! 6!FEDERALISTS)EMBRACE)THE)PRINCIPLES)OF)‘98)................................................)176! 7!JOHN)MARSHALL)CONFRONTS)THE)PRINCIPLES)OF)‘98).....................................)218! 8!ANDREW)JACKSON)CONFRONTS)THE)PRINCIPLES)OF)‘98).................................)271! 9!CONCLUSION).....................................................................................................................)364! BIBLIOGRAPHY)...................................................................................................................)372! vii! ! 1 INTRODUCTION)) ! The!Constitution!of!the!United!State!has!never!Been,!and!most!likely!never!was!