The Virtues of the Republic and the Follies of Man

Reclaiming the American Revolution: The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Their Legacy
By: William J. Watkins, Jr.
Palgrave Macmillan; An Independent Institute Book
ISBN: 1-4039-6303-7
236 pgs., hardback

Reviewed by Robert Cheeks

In six short chapters, William Watkins, Jr. delineates one of the great what ifs of American history. If the subject matter were not so serious, one would be inclined to describe his book, Reclaiming the American Revolution: The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Their Legacy, as “delightful.” Alas, there is a certain sadness! For those cogent readers who possess a knowledge of America’s founding will be struck by the opportunities, provided by Jefferson and Madison, that were summarily dismissed by inferior minds and corrupt politicians.

Watkins’ first three chapters are a magnificent exegesis describing in detail the period of John Adams’s administration. The author outlines the difficulty faced at the beginning of the nation as Alexander Hamilton, then Secretary of the Treasury, worked assiduously to formulate a plan to pay off the Revolutionary War debt, which included the improvident excise tax on whiskey, his efforts at establishing a national bank (here Watkins’ erudite analysis is both clear and concise), Hamilton’s loose interpretation of the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause which so riled the Jeffersonians, and finally, his Report on Manufacturers, which hoped to subsidize certain industries, aim tariff regulations in direct support of targeted industries, provide grants to inventors, begin a national program of “internal improvements,” and pay for the moving expenses “of skilled foreigners who settled in the United States.” Hamilton’s efforts, much of which was approved by then President Washington, immediately drew the ire of the “strict constructionist” Republicans lead, of course, by Thomas Jefferson.

The author describes the conflict between France and the United States that culminated in the infamous “X, Y, Z Affair” and provoked the perfervid cry, “millions for defense, not one cent for tribute!” President Adams, while instigating the French with “fiery speeches,” observed the consequent upsurge in nationalism and took certain actions in preparation for war: the establishment of the Department of the Navy, the commission of twelve armed ships, prohibiting French ships-other than those in distress-from entering American ports, and a plethora of taxes.

In a nutshell, John Adams party, the Federalists, saw their opponents, Tom Jefferson’s party, the Republicans, as supporters of the French, to the extent they would undermine the Adams administration. In turn the Republicans saw the Federalists as Anglophiles who wished to return the American Republic to the British Empire. It was during this turbulent period that Madison wrote in a letter to Jefferson: “it is a universal truth that the loss of liberty at home is to be charged to the provisions against danger, real or pretended, from abroad.”

In the summer of 1798 the Federalists crafted a series of pernicious laws (the Alien and Sedition Acts) designed to prepare the United States for war with France. The author writes: “Ostensibly aimed at securing the home front as the Federalists braced for French invasion, the Acts served the much broader purpose of Federalist political hegemony. Through this legislation, the Federalists sought to restrain democratic-minded foreigners and silence all criticism of the national government. Procrustean conformity became the cardinal principle of Federalist politics.”

In a well-crafted chapter the author outlines the Alien and Sedition Acts and provides a list of their prosecutions that fell primarily on writers and editors.

Watkins’s chapter, The Principles of 1798, may well shock the general reader for he has included doctrines and principles long forgotten by the American public. Jefferson asseverates in his response, the Kentucky Resolves, that the States were “not united on the principle of unlimited submission to their general government” instead by “compact” the states “constituted a general government for special purposes.” And, there you have it, the “compact theory.” A doctrine that apodictically declares the States established the federal government. Watkins also shines in his explanation of the “Enumerated Powers” making the signal point that Jefferson considered the Tenth Amendment “the foundation of the Constitution.” Both Jefferson and Madison (the author of the Virginia Resolutions) argued against the Federalists loose interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause as well as the General Welfare Clause of the Constitution. These stalwart republicans defined the above clauses as pertaining only to the enumerated powers defined within the Constitution, and not the maladroit schemes that came later at the hands of Republican “progressivists” and Democrat “liberals.”

It is important to understand that the majority of citizens concurred with Jefferson and Madison’s opinions concerning the “limited” nature of the central government. They were not engaged in mere political demagoguery but were trying to re-establish the prominent role the states held during the formulation of the Constitution (Compact) and the consequent establishment of the general government. The question was, who, in this system of “checks and balances,” would check the general government? Surely, the Supreme Court is unqualified simply because it is part of the general government. And, that leaves the states.

Watkins examines the acuity exhibited by both Madison and Jefferson in constructing their “resolves.” Madison determined that for a state to “nullify” a federal law required the act of a state convention, not the state legislature, because the state was addressing a constitutional question. While Jefferson ostensibly concurred he was adamantine about states rights, recognizing not only that “state officials would thwart enforcement of the Acts,” but also that state legislatures required a certain “potency” in checking the general government, and that “potency” was nullification!

Watkins explains that the “Revolution of 1800,” reaffirmed doctrines inherent in the establishment of the United States. Watkins writes, “Jefferson and Madison-through nullification and interposition-sought to provided the states with a mechanism to defend the reserved powers.”

The author points out that while neither Kentucky nor Virginia nullified a federal law the concept had a profound influence on future relations between the general government and the states. His chapter, Influence of the Resolutions, is an in-depth analysis of sundry clashes between the general government and the States, from the Olmstead Case to South Carolina’s nullification efforts. In concluding the chapter, the author points out that the Supreme Court is now the sole arbiter in Constitutional questions, “And while the Court as final arbiter does provide certainty, we must ask ourselves whether such a state of affairs can be squared with the people’s position as ultimate sovereigns.”

In his penultimate chapter, Consolidation, Watkins reviews the sad history of federal usurpations. His discussion on the Senate, and its intended efficacy, is worth the price of the book. And, in his final chapter, Lessons For Today, Watkins concludes by saying, “..if we have the will, our system of government can be reformed….If Americans embrace the Resolves’ lessons about ultimate sovereignty and divided legislative sovereignty, then a renewal of federalism and a restoration of our Constitution is possible.”

Watkins’s book, Reclaiming the American Revolution, The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions and Their Legacy, is simply the most informative, well written and researched book on the subject I’ve ever read. It is a clarion call for a return to the first principles and a must read for every citizen concerned about the real meaning of liberty and the future of his country.

Robert C. Cheeks is a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Human Events, The American Enterprise, The Pittsburgh Tribune Review, The Acton Institute’s Religion and Liberty, and America’s Civil War.