John Marshall and Judicial Nationalism*



    A. Marshall most important chief justice in U.S. history (1801-1835)
        1. Significantly strengthened the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison
            (1803) and other cases.
        2. His decisions greatly increased power of the federal government over
            the states.
            a. Strengthened the union and helped create a stable, nationally
                uniform environment for business.
           b. Checked excesses of the popularly elected state legislatures.
            c. Ironically, his decisions at times hampered democracy at a time
                when America was become much more democratic during the
                Jacksonian era.
        3. Examined cases from a Federalist philosophy and found legal
            precedents to support his Hamiltonian views.
            a. Jeffersonian attempts to balance the Court with Republicans
                failed.
            b. Republicans came to accept the Federalist ideal of strong central
                gov't.
    B. Fletcher v. Peck (1810) (protection of property rights against popular
        pressures)
        1. Issue: New Georgia legislature canceled a contract which had granted
            35 million acres in the Yazoo River country (Miss.) to private
            speculators as a form of graft.
            -- Previous legislature had made the grant in what was called "Yazoo
            Land Controversy" during Jefferson’s presidency.
        2. Significance: Court ruled the Constitution forbids state from "impairing
            contracts".
            a. One of earliest examples of Court asserting its right to invalidate
                state laws.
            b. Court stated the legislative grant was a contract (albeit fraudulently
                secured)
    C. Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816)
        1. Issue: Did Supreme Court (as provided for in Judiciary Act of 1789) have
            the right to review decisions of state supreme courts where federal statutes
            or treaties were involved or when state laws had been upheld under the
            federal Constitution?
            -- Virginia sought to disregard Treaty of Paris (1783) and Jay’s Treaty (1794)
            regarding confiscation of Loyalist lands.
        2. Decision: Supreme Court rejected "compact theory" and state claims that
            they were equally sovereign with the federal gov’t.
        3. Significance: Upheld Supremacy Clause of the Constitution and federal
            j udicial supremacy over the states.
    D. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) (Blow to states' rights)
        1. Issue: Maryland tried to destroy Baltimore branch of the BUS by taxing its
            notes.
        2. Marshall declared US bank constitutional invoking Hamilton's doctrine of
            implied powers (elastic clause of the constitution --"necessary &
            proper").
            a."Loose construction" given major boost.
            b. Argued the Constitution derived from the consent of the people and
                thus permitted the gov't to act for their benefit.
        3. Denied Maryland the right to tax the bank: "..that the power to tax
            involves the power to destroy" and "that a power to create implies the
            power to preserve."
    E. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) (protection of property rights from
        the states)
        1. Issue: New Hampshire had changed a charter granted to the college by King
            George III in 1769. Republicans sought to remove "private" aspect of school &
            make a state institution.
            -- Dartmouth appealed; defended by Daniel Webster, an alumnus.
        2. Ruling: Charter was a contract; states could not invalidate it according to
            Constitution.
        3. Significance:
            a. Positive: safeguarded business from domination by the states.
            b. Negative: set precedent giving corporations the ability to escape
                gov’t control.
    F. Cohens v. Virginia (1821) (Blow to states' rights)
        1. Significance: Marshall asserted right of Supreme Court to review decisions
        o f the state supreme courts in all questions involving powers of the federal
        gov't.
            a. Significant blow to states' rights.
            b. Similar to Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee case (above)
        2. Issue: Virginia courts convicted Cohens for selling lottery tickets illegally.
            a. State supreme court upheld the decision
            b. Marshall overturned it.
    G. Gibbons v. Ogden -- 1824 ("steamboat case") (Blow to states' rights)
        1. Significance: Marshall ruled Constitution conferred on Congress alone the
            right to control interstate commerce.
        2. Issue: NY tried to grant a monopoly of river commerce between NY & NJ to
            a private company (owned by Ogden). Gibbons had congressional approval to
            conduct business on the same waters.
        3. Court ruled interstate streams were to regulated by Congress, not
            individual states.
    H. Daniel Webster became an important influence in Marshall’s decisions.
        1. Advocated strongly Federalist and nationalist views before the Supreme
            Court.
            -- He actually "ghost wrote" some of the Court’s opinions.
        2. Classic speeches in the Senate, challenging states' rights and nullification,
            were largely repetitions of arguments he earlier presented to the
            Supreme Court.


*http://www.bv229.k12.ks.us/bvhs_klopfenstein/Apush_notes/Unit_II/PRESIDENT%20MONROE.pdf