the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions served what extent of precedent to Ordinance of Nullification because
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and South Carolina's Ordinance of Nullification are two historical instances involving the principle of states' rights and the concept of nullification. Although they were separate events, the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions served as a precedential argument that influenced the later notion of nullification as used in the Ordinance of Nullification.
Here's how they are related:
1. Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions (1798-1799):
These resolutions were passed by the state legislatures of Virginia and Kentucky in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts, which the federal government enacted in 1798. The resolutions argued that states had the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws. Thomas Jefferson (Kentucky) and James Madison (Virginia) suggested that if the federal government exceeded its powers as delineated by the Constitution, states had the right to "nullify" those acts. Even though these resolutions were largely symbolic and did not have legal force, they were important ideological declarations in favor of states' rights and against federal overreach.
2. Ordinance of Nullification (1832):
The Ordinance of Nullification was adopted by a convention in South Carolina. It declared that the federal Tariff Acts of 1828 and 1832 were unconstitutional and therefore null and void within the sovereign boundaries of the state. South Carolina's justification for nullification drew upon the arguments presented in the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions that states, as parties to the federal compact, retained the right to prevent the enforcement of federal laws that they deemed unconstitutional.
The connection:
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions served as a precedent for the concept of nullification because they first formalized the argument that a state could declare a federal law null and void within its borders. Essentially, while not legally binding, the resolutions provided the intellectual underpinning and rhetorical framework for the later nullification crisis. When South Carolina put forth its Ordinance of Nullification, it was echoing the earlier states' rights doctrines promoted by Jefferson and Madison. This linkage underscores the development of the states' rights doctrine and the tension between state and federal authority that has been a recurring theme in American history. It's important to note, however, that nullification as a legal concept has never been affirmed by the United States Supreme Court.