Final answer:
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions alongside the Nullification Crisis contributed to the states' rights discourse by affirming the power of states to nullify federal laws, which was later applied to arguments defending slavery and leading up to the Civil War.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions and the Nullification Crisis are significant historical events that foreshadowed the states' rights arguments surrounding the institution of slavery. The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, passed in 1798, asserted that states had the power to nullify federal laws they deemed unconstitutional.
This principle laid the foundation for the idea that states could resist federal interference, particularly in relation to the protective tariffs, which inspired the Nullification Crisis of the 1830s. The crisis was prompted by Southern opposition to tariffs but was deeply intertwined with the defense of slavery. It provided an argument for resisting the federal government, shaping the ideology that would later be used to defend the institution of slavery and eventually lead to secession and the Civil War.