but  none  did  so ;  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  legislatures  of
several  northern  states  condemned  the  resolutions.  One  year
later,  the  Kentucky  legislature  went  further,  and  asserted  the
dangerous  doctrine  of  nullification,  which  had  been  suggested  by
Jefferson.  The  claim  was  made  that  a  state  might  nullify,  or
declare  not  binding,  a  law  of  Congress.  This  theory  struck  at
the  power  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  which
under  the  Constitution  is  the  final  judge  of  the  powers  of  the


254


THE   NEW   REPUBLIC


national  government.  If  each  state  could  disobey  any  law  that
it  does  not  like,  the  federal  government  would  be  at  the  mercy
of  the  states.  Soon  there  would  be  no  Union  at  all.
The  Presidential  Election  of  1800.  The  presidential  campaign
of  1800  was  a  bitter  one.  Adams  and  Pinckney  were  the  Feder-
alist candidates;  Jefferson  and  Burr  were  nominated  by  the

Republicans.  The  Feder-
alists had  been  in  charge  of
the  government  for  twelve
years ;  and  in  spite  of  some
mistakes,  they  had  accom-
plished remarkable  results.
Their  party  was  divided  in
this  election,  owing  to  the
mutual  jealousy  between
Hamilton  and  Adams.
Then,  too,  the  Republicans
were  aided  by  the  unpopular
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,
also  by  the  heavy  increase
in  government  expenses.
But  the  most  important
cause  of  the  Federalist  de-
feat was  the  growing  spirit
of  democracy  among  the
masses  of  the  people.  The
Federalists  favored  the  rule  of  "the  rich,  the  well-born,  and  the
able,"  and  were  inclined  to  neglect  the  plain  common  people.
So  the  masses  turned  to  Jefferson,  the  Republican  candidate.
