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Creation of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court was issued to help with checks and balances. Being ran on the basis of the Constitution, the supreme court was used to bring forth stabliity between the executive and judiciary branches. -
John Jay
On September 24, 1789 President George Washington offered John Jay the posistion of the first Chief of Justice of the United States. -
John Marshall
President John Adams nominated John Marshall as Chief Justice and The Senate confirmed in January of 1801. -
Marbury Vs. Madison
President Adams appointed Marbury the Justice of Peace at the end of his presidency. Unfortunately the commision was not delivered properly. Marbury pushed that Secretary of State James Madison should be forced to deliver the documents. The court however denied this petition. This gains its significance in the fact that this was the first time the court declared something as "unconstitutional". -
Fletcher Vs. Peck
Fletcher sued Peck for land that Peck had previously bought which was part of an Indian Reserve. Fletcher stated that Peck did not have the official title he needed when he sold the land. In this case the court established that a state can not make laws that will interfere with the Constitution. Also that a state may not act as an individual government of its own. -
McCulloch v. Maryland
In 1818 Maryland passed legislation to force banks to pay taxes. However cashier James McColloch refused to pay the taxes. He along with many others questioned the right to tax banks in such a maner. It was decided that Maryland did not have the power to tax national money. -
Darmouth College v. Woodward
There was arguement over whether legislater could change a charter for a school. Darmouth College did not want to become a public school and wanted to remain private however many wanted it to become a public school. In the end the court agreed with Darmouth and they remained a private school.Many people today said that this case influenced business investments and growth making this case a very significant one. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
New York gave two individual people the rights to opperate steamboats. All other boats were charged fees when entered into New York territory. The court decided that New York's decision for the fee charges was inconsistant with already put into place rules which caused them to side against New York and stopped the charges of fees for out-of-state boating. -
Worcester v. Georgia
In Septemeber of 1831 all people who were not of indian heritage in Georgia must have had a license in order to live within the limits of the Cherokee. There was much debate over whether it was infringing on peoples rights by causing this extreme seperation of the Americans and the Indians. The court agreed that it was unconstitutional to seperate people based on the ethnic backgrounds.
