Question: In the first 100 years of the United States, were there arguments over states’ rights?

Yes. Until the Civil War, the states questioned the extent of the federal government’s power. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions challenging the federal government’s Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 (which limited civil liberties such as freedom of speech). Also, John C. Calhoun asserted that states could declare controversial laws, such as tariffs c1828, null and void. However, since the Civil War, the national government has asserted its supremacy.

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