Jefferson was defeated for president in the election of 1796 by [[John Adams]], but became Vice President. When the [[Quasi War]] (that is undeclared war) with France broke out in 1798 and Federalists passed the [[Alien and Sedition laws]], Jefferson and Madison protested by secretly writing the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] of 1798. They argued the right of state governments to nullify federal laws considered unconstitutional; this was the start of the [[States Rights]] theory that played a role in the coming of the [[American Civil War]] in 1861 and still plays a role in Constitutional debates.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 8</ref> | Jefferson was defeated for president in the election of 1796 by [[John Adams]], but became Vice President. When the [[Quasi War]] (that is undeclared war) with France broke out in 1798 and Federalists passed the [[Alien and Sedition laws]], Jefferson and Madison protested by secretly writing the [[Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions]] of 1798. They argued the right of state governments to nullify federal laws considered unconstitutional; this was the start of the [[States Rights]] theory that played a role in the coming of the [[American Civil War]] in 1861 and still plays a role in Constitutional debates.<ref>Peterson, ''Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation'' (1975) ch. 8</ref> |