Historical Context:
US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall presided over the Supreme
Court for over three decades as numerous decisions were made affecting
checks and balances, Federal-State relations, and commercial interests.
Thesis Challenge: Assess the degree to which the
Marshall court was successful in expanding the rights
and powers of the judicial branch, national government,
and free enterprise system in the United States between
the years 1801 and 1835.
Document A
Supreme Court - A Brief History
Other than establishing it, Article III of the US Constitution spells out neither
the specific duties, powers, nor organization of the Supreme Court.
“the judicial power of the Unites States shall be vested in one Supreme Court,
and in such inferior courts as the Congress shall from time to time establish.”
http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa081400a.htm
Document B
John Adams’ Judicial Appointments
President Adams had first offered the seat to ex-Chief Justice
John Jay, who declined on the grounds that the Court lacked
"energy, weight, and dignity."
(1801)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marshall
Document C
Marbury v. Madison (1803)
"It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial
department to say what the law is. Those who apply
the rule to particular cases, must of necessity
expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict
with each other, the courts must decide on the
operation of each."
— Chief Justice John Marshall
http://www.landmarkcases.org/marbury/home.html
Document D
Jefferson’s Response to Marbury v Madison (1803)
The Court's decision was opposed by President Thomas Jefferson, who
lamented that this doctrine made the Constitution, "a mere thing of wax
in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any
form they please."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Marshall
Document E
McCulloch v Maryland (1819)
This Supreme Court Case addressed the issue of Federal power and commerce.
James W. McCulloch, a Federal cashier at the Baltimore branch of the U.S. bank,
refused to pay the taxes imposed by the state. Maryland filed a suit against
McCulloch in an effort to collect the taxes. The Supreme Court, however, decided
that the chartering of a bank was an implied power of the Constitution, under the
“elastic clause,” which granted Congress the authority to
“make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution”
the work of the Federal Government.
This case presented a major issue that challenged the Constitution: Does the
Federal Government hold sovereign power over states? The proceedings posed
two questions: Does the Constitution give Congress power to create a bank? And
could individual states ban or tax the bank? The court decided that the Federal
Government had the right and power to set up a Federal bank and that states did
not have the power to tax the Federal Government. Marshall ruled in favor of the
Federal Government and concluded,
“the power to tax involves the power to destroy."
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=21
Document F
Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
In the summer of 1819 the newly elected governor of New Hampshire,
William Plumer, sought to take control of the college's charter from its
(Federalist) trustees in order to replace the board with elected (Republican)
members.
Daniel Webster successfully argued for Dartmouth in the U.S. Supreme
Court, and Chief Justice John Marshall handed down the decision that Dartmouth
was a private rather than public entity, therefore, the state of New Hampshire did
not have regulatory power over it. This is considered an important historical
decision as it limits the control a state government may have over a corporate
charter.
Source …whoops!
Document G
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
". . . Few things were better known, than the immediate causes which led to
the adoption of the present constitution . . . that the prevailing motive was to
regulate commerce; to rescue it from the embarrassing and destructive
consequences, resulting from the legislation of so many different States, and
to place it under the protection of a uniform law."
— Chief Justice John Marshall
http://www.landmarkcases.org/gibbons/home.html
Document H
Worcester v Georgia (1832)
Question:
Does the state of Georgia have the authority to regulate the intercourse
between citizens of its state and members of the Cherokee Nation?
Conclusion:
No. In an opinion delivered by Chief Justice John Marshall, the Court held that
the Georgia act, under which Worcester was prosecuted, violated the
Constitution, treaties, and laws of the United States. Noting that the "treaties
and laws of the United States contemplate the Indian territory as completely
separated from that of the states; and provide that all intercourse with them
shall be carried on exclusively by the government of the union," Chief Justice
Marshall argued, "The Cherokee nation, then, is a distinct community
occupying its own territory in which the laws of Georgia can have no force.
The whole intercourse between the United States and this nation, is, by our
constitution and laws, vested in the government of the United States." The
Georgia act thus interfered with the federal government's authority and was
unconstitutional. Justice Henry Baldwin dissented for procedural reasons and
on the merits.
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1792-1850/1832/1832_0/
Document I
President Jackson responds to Worcester v Georgia (1832)
While frequently frowned upon in the North, the Removal Act was popular in the
South, where population growth and the discovery of gold on Cherokee land
had increased pressure on tribal lands. The state of Georgia became involved
in a contentious jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees, culminating in the
1832 U.S. Supreme Court decision (Worcester v. Georgia) which ruled that
Georgia could not impose its laws upon Cherokee tribal lands. Jackson is often
quoted (regarding the decision) as having said, "John Marshall has made his
decision, now let him enforce it!" Whether or not he actually said it is disputed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson