ABSTRACT
Subnational practices have deep roots in American constitutionalism. Colonial assemblies employed the practice to promote distinctly American understandings of English constitutional principles. These practices helped foster understandings that were truly national. Following the ratification of the US Constitution, states continued to express constitutional dissent and mobilize popular opposition to congressional policies and judicial decisions that were deemed unconstitutional. By the late 1790s, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson turned to subnational practices to resolve conflicts over constitutional meaning and maintain the constitutional order. Madison argued that states were well constituted to push back against national policies that threatened to throw the system out of equilibrium. In effect, states could sound the alarm, assert alternative understandings, and activate the people in their sovereign capacity who could help resolve the conflict electorally. This chapter explores the development of state-based practices through studies of colonial practices and early state practices that culminate in the Virginia and Kentucky’s response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. The chapter pays particular attention to the impact state efforts have on the constitutional dimensions of interpretation, politics, and authority.
