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Creation of the Supreme Court
With the passing of the Judiciary Act of 1789, the United States Supreme Court was born. Such an event is significant as the Supreme Court represents one third of our federal government. One can only imagine how history would have turned out without it. It is significant to the Supreme Court because it IS the Supreme Court. -
John Jay
John Jay was officially instated as chief justice of the Supreme Court. the most significant acomplishment of this particular Supreme Court was the Eleventh Ammendment (not ratified until later). The amendment recognizes that states have a certain degree of sovereign immunity. They are not mere subordinates to the federal government but instead virtual quasi-sovereigns. not only was John Jay the first chief justice but his court helped estabilish the Supreme Court's power. -
John Marshall
One of the most influentila chief justices the Supreme Courrt has ever had. He presided over Marbury v. Madison, Flecther v. Peck, Dartmouth College v. Woodward, McCollough v. Maryland, and Gibbons v. Ogden. The Marshall Court struck down an act of Congress in only one case (Marbury v. Madison in 1803) but that established the Court as a center of power that could overrule the Congress and ensured the Supreme Court as a powerful arm of the government. -
Marbury v. Madison
It formed the basis for the exercise of judicial review in the United States under Article III of the Constitution. It was also the first time in the world that a court invalidated a law by declaring it "unconstitutional." The case began on March 2, 1801, when an obscure Federalist, William Marbury, was designated as a justice of the peace in the District of Columbia. Marbury was appointed to a job during Adam's presidency but it was never finalized. -
Fletcher v. Peck
The case marked the first time the Supreme Court struck down a state law on constitutional grounds. In Georgia (Alabama/Mississippi) a grant was made for some land to buyers for 1.5 cents per acre and those who voted on the grant were bribed. John Peck purchased some land that was part of the 1795 grant, and in 1803, he sold 13,000 acres of it to Robert Fletcher for $3,000. When Fletcher discovered the sale of the land had been voided by state law, however, he brought suit against Peck. -
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held (1819) that the charter of Dartmouth College, granted in 1769 by King George III, was a contract and as such could not be impaired by the New Hampshire legislature. State legislators had tried to alter the contract's terms regarding the continuance of the board of trustees, an effort rejected by the court. The decision was far-reaching in its application to business charters, protecting businesses and corporations from much government regulation. -
McCollough v. Maryland
Congress has power to incorporate a bank. When Congress decided to establish a Second National Bank, the states viewed it as unconstitutional. They believed the federal government infringed their sovereign rights by creating its own bank because the Constitution was silent on the issue of banking. Maryland decided to set an example by levying a tax against the bank. The bank refused to pay and the Supreme Court was forced to decide. Another significant demonstration of Supreme Court power. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
Aaron Ogden owned a steamship monopoly and Thomas Gibbons had federal permission to do buisness there. Ogden and his partners (including Robert Fulton, the inventor of the Clermont) denied access to anyone on the outside like Gibbons despite his grant. The Court said that the federal commerce clause, in effect, outranked a state law that had granted a monopoly to one group of people. Previously, it was thought that the federal government had power over only interstate commerce. -
Worcester v. Georgia
Georgia law required all whites living in Cherokee Indian Territory to obtain a state license. Worcester, a missionary who disobeyed, says that the law is unconstitutional as it is Indian land and not American soil. Worcester's conviction is void, because states have no criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country.
