Republican (constitutionalist) Governor James Garrard, of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, signs the “Kentucky Resolutions” (ghost written by Republican Vice President Thomas Jefferson) protesting the usurpations of federal power by the Alien and Sedition Acts.  Resolutions One, Two and Six, of which state,

• That the several states composing the United States of America are not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government; but that, by compact, under the style and title of a Constitution for the United States … that whensoever [sic] the general government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force.  …
• That the Constitution … having delegated to Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting … piracies and … no other crimes.  … therefore … the act … entitled “An Act to punish Frauds committed on the Bank of the United States,” … are altogether void, and of no force.
• That the imprisonment of a person … on his failure to obey the simple order of the President to depart out of the United States … is contrary to the Constitution … is therefore not law, but utterly void, and of no force.

       NOTE: In explaining the Kentucky Resolutions Jefferson said, “Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated.”

       [updated 7/25/2026]