Reclaiming the American Revolution examines the struggles for political ascendancy between Federalists and the Republicans in the early days of the American Republic. Watkins views the struggle through the lens of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, charters written by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison respectively, that were responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts passed by Federalists that, among other things, made criticism of the federal government a crime. Viewing those acts as a threat to states' rights, as well as indicative of a national government that sought supreme power, the Resolutions restated the principles of the American Revolution and sought to return the nation to the tenets of the Constitution, in which rights for all were protected by checking the power of the national government.

Reviews

"With historical knowledge that one can only wish more could possess, Watkins has brought our attention back to Jefferson's and Madison's constitutional commentary in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798-1800 and their illuminating relation to American history." - Clyde N. Wilson, Professor of History, University of South Carolina

"With Reclaiming the American Revolution, we have a thorough, thoughtful, and important study of a significant subject that has been too long neglected." - Joyce O. Appleby, Professor of History, UCLA; past president of Organization of American Historians and American Historical Association

"William Watkins' important book, Reclaiming the American Revolution, is intriguing and controversial: it is based on much research, and it is full of interest for the questions it raises about federal-state relations." - Robert L. Middlekauf, Preston Hotchkiss Professor of American History, University of California, Berkeley

About the author

WIILIAM J. WATKINS, Jr. is an attorney who specializes in constitutional law. He has written several articles on legal history, and is a research fellow at the Independent Institute in California, USA.

Bibliographic Information

Book Title: Reclaiming the American Revolution
Book Subtitle: The Kentucky and Virgina Resolutions and their Legacy
Authors: William J. Watkins
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-09794-1
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan New York
eBook Packages: Palgrave History Collection, History (R0)
Copyright Information: Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Nature America Inc. 2004
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4039-6303-1Published: 28 January 2004
Softcover ISBN: 978-0-230-60257-1Published: 14 February 2008
eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-09794-1Published: 30 April 2016
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIV, 238
Topics: US History, Modern History, Political History, History of the Americas, European Politics, Political Science

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Table of contents (6 chapters)

Front Matter

Monocrats and Jacobins

Legislation and Persecution

The Principles of 1798

Influence of the Resolutions

Consolidation

Lessons for Today

Back Matter

About this book