Marshall, John

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Marshall, John

Born September 24, 1755 (Germantown, Virginia)
Died July 6, 1835 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

John Marshall grew up as a Virginia gentleman who was accepted into the most famous group of national leaders this nation ever produced. His fellow Virginian revolutionaries included George Washington (1732–1799; see entry in volume 2), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826; see entry in volume 1), James Madison (1751–1836; see entry in volume 2), and Edmund Randolph (1753–1813; see entry in volume 2). In January 1801, the U.S. Senate approved Marshall as chief justice of the Supreme Court. At the time, it was a weak federal position. Over the next thirty-four years, however, Marshall made it into one of the most powerful positions in the national government.

"An act of the legislature, repugnant to the Constitution, is void. This theory is essentially attached to a written constitution, and is consequently to be considered, by this Court, as one of the fundamental principles of our society."

In his court position, Marshall assumed the role of chief defender of the U.S. Constitution. He also resolved numerous conflicts between state and federal governments. Marshall took part in over one thousand court decisions, writing the court's opinion on approximately half of them. His defense and interpretation of the Constitution laid the foundation for a strong nation. His decisions also created the legal field of constitutional law as it would be practiced for the next two centuries.

Marshall treated the Constitution as a law made by the people through their representatives at the Constitutional Convention. Marshall did not consider it an agreement among states as others at the time did. Therefore, the Constitution assumed a supreme role in American law. Marshall also supported a broad interpretation of the Constitution that claimed the existence of implied (unwritten) powers possessed by the Supreme Court to carry out the responsibilities specifically assigned to the government. In the early 1790s, Federalist Alexander Hamilton (1755–1804; see entry in volume 1) believed these implied powers existed when Hamilton supported the establishment of the National Bank of the United States over James Madison's objections that it was unconstitutional. By protecting contracts, including corporate charters, from state law restrictions, Marshall's Supreme Court decisions also played a major role in stabilizing U.S. finances.

Through his force of personality, Marshall made the federal judiciary a major branch of government as anticipated in the Constitution. The Supreme Court became equal in power, influence, and prestige to the president and Congress of the United States. He shaped what many still considered a federation of states into a more unified nation.

Youth on the frontier

The oldest of fifteen children, John Marshall was born to Thomas and Mary Marshall in September 1755 on a plantation near Germantown, Virginia. His father rose up in society from a common background while his mother was from the wealthy Randolph family of Virginia. Marshall grew up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains on the Virginia frontier, which in 1759 became Fauquier County. His father was successful in land speculation, making him one of the wealthiest Virginians in Fauquier County. John would later become a successful land speculator himself. Land speculation is the buying of undeveloped frontier land cheaply with the intent of later reselling it to settlers at a higher price, making a profit. It was a common means of gaining wealth in the early American period.

Marshall received a limited formal education as a youth, but his family paid close attention to world affairs and valued education. His father served in Virginia's House of Burgesses (the colonial legislature) and brought John books on politics. Marshall was also tutored in the literary classics and Latin. However, young Marshall's formal schooling was cut short after only two years when the American Revolutionary War (1775–83) broke out. Nonetheless, throughout his life, Marshall drew on the intellectual influences of his childhood and combined them with the skills of a frontiersman in creating a rugged, self-reliant person.

Revolutionary War

With the outbreak of the war in 1775, Marshall became an officer in the Virginia militia with his father. He then became an officer in the regular Continental Army in 1776 and served under General Washington for the next three years. He fought in many important battles, including engagements at Brandywine, Germantown, Stony Point, and Monmouth. He also wintered with General Washington and his troops at Valley Forge in 1777-78.

Marshall also served as a judge in the military justice system for the Continental Army. It was his first experience in the administration of justice. While still in the army, in 1780, Marshall had the opportunity to attend a series of lectures on law by the prominent legal scholar George Wythe (1726–1806) at William and Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia. Wythe also instructed Jefferson and later Henry Clay (1777–1852; see entry in volume 1) in law. Deciding on a law career, Marshall gained his license to practice law in August 1780, and he left military service the following year in 1781.

While attending Wythe's classes in Williamsburg, Marshall met Mary Ambler, known as "Polly." Her father was the state treasurer of Virginia. After three years of courtship, they married in January 1783 and settled in Richmond, Virginia, where Marshall's law practice grew rapidly. They had ten children, but Polly suffered a mental breakdown when she had a miscarriage. Though she was left partly an invalid, Marshall cared for her, and their special strong relationship persisted throughout their marriage.

Virginia's top lawyer

In his law practice, Marshall showed a strong gift for oratory, a charismatic personality, and the ability to think quickly. These qualities led to his fast rise in Virginia's legal profession and in politics. Marshall was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from 1782 to 1784, 1787 to 1791, and 1795 to 1797. In June 1788, Marshall was a delegate to the Virginia convention for ratifying the new U.S. Constitution and supported the constitution's adoption. Not surprisingly, the section of the constitution that he most strongly supported concerned the creation of the new federal judiciary.

In the process of forming the new government in 1789, the newly elected President Washington offered Marshall the position of U.S. attorney in Virginia. However, Marshall chose to remain in the Virginia legislature. As political parties formed through the 1790s, Marshall became a leading Federalist in Virginia. Federalists supported the need for a strong central government.

Marshall continued to rise in national prominence through the 1790s. Aligning himself with President Washington and Treasury Secretary Hamilton, the recognized national leader of the Federalist Party, Marshall actively supported the unpopular Jay Treaty (a settlement with Britain) in 1795. Marshall even presented one case concerning a land dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1796. In his courtroom pleas, he argued for a strong national government. The Federalist Party encouraged him to run for Congress, but he refused that as well. His law practice was doing too well. He remained a strong supporter of President Washington as controversies over foreign and economic policy grew through the mid-1790s, and he rallied Virginia leaders behind the Jay Treaty with Britain in 1795.

Public service

Despite his rise in politics, Marshall carefully selected the public posts he assumed. President Washington offered him the attorney general position and a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, but he declined both. In 1797, President John Adams (1735–1826; served 1797–1801; see entry in volume 1) sent Marshall with other U.S. diplomats to France to negotiate a treaty. They were to resolve growing disputes between the two nations; causes for the disputes included France's raid of many U.S. merchant ships engaged in war against Britain. When French officials tried to bribe the U.S. delegation before they allowed a meeting with the French foreign minister Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord (1754–1838), Marshall and the others protested and left. They returned to America in June 1798 as heroes for refusing to give in to the French corruption.

Upon Marshall's return from France, President Adams offered him an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, but again he declined. Encouraged by former President Washington to run for Congress, in 1798 Marshall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. There, he became a leading Federalist and supporter of Adams. After again declining an appointment as secretary of war, Marshall finally accepted the appointment by Adams as secretary of state in May 1800. In this position, Marshall became a strong supporter and chief personal advisor to Adams during the final year of his administration. Later in 1800, when Adams took leave from Washington, D.C., to return to his Massachusetts home for several months, Marshall essentially ran the country.

When Supreme Court chief justice Oliver Ellsworth (1745–1807) resigned due to ill health in late 1800, Adams's first choice to succeed him was Federalist John Jay (1745–1829; see entry in volume 1), who had served as the first chief justice in the early 1790s. However, Jay declined, in part because the position lacked power and any real authority. Adams then turned to Marshall, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 27, 1801. Marshall also continued to serve as secretary of state until March 4 when the Adams administration came to an end.

Having lost the presidential election to Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson and with Congress also strongly favoring Democratic-Republican candidates, Adams hoped to keep the federal courts as a Federalist stronghold through last-minute maneuvers before leaving office. The Federalist-controlled Congress passed the 1801 Judiciary Act, which created new federal courts, and Adams, with Marshall as close advisor, proceeded to make many federal court appointments during his last days.

Chief justice

Marshall took his seat on the Court in March 1801 and served in that position through the remainder of his life, for some thirty-four years. He was exceptionally knowledgeable in law and government operations. He was also very bright and could quickly understand and analyze complex legal issues. Marshall, through his personal abilities of charm and intellect, brought the Court above politics and brought about a major transformation in the judiciary. Party affiliation of the justices became less of a factor, and for a time the Court was strongly unified.

As in England, the U.S. Supreme Court through the 1790s made rulings on cases with each justice delivering a separate opinion on the case. However, in a young nation with its legal system barely formed, this approach only added confusion to this early period. Marshall established a rule that the Court issue a single opinion in cases. The unified rulings offered considerable legal certainty to the nation and greatly increased the Court's influence. During this time, the justices were housed together while in Washington, D.C., for the annual Court session that lasted several weeks. As a result, they constantly interacted on the issues before them. In this atmosphere, Marshall, who was open to different views and willing to change his own opinion, was often able to reach consensus (full agreement) among the Court justices.

The first years of Marshall's time on the Court were turbulent as the Democratic-Republicans led by President Jefferson, now in power, challenged Federalist judges. In 1803, fellow Supreme Court justice Samuel Chase (1741–1811) was impeached (charged by Congress) for injecting his strong Federalist views in the courtroom. Vice President Aaron Burr (1756–1836; see entry in volume 1) presided over the trial in the Senate, and Chase was found not guilty. Before long, political battles decreased, and a greater calm surrounded the Court.

The trial of Aaron Burr

Burr, himself, became a defendant when he was charged with treason in the summer of 1807. After leaving office a couple of years earlier, Burr became involved in mysterious plots that possibly involved invading Mexico or transforming the region of the United States west of the Appalachians into a separate nation. The trial was held in the U.S. Circuit Court in Richmond. Marshall was the presiding judge. During this time, the Supreme Court justices still sat on U.S. Circuit Courts around the country when the Supreme Court was not in session. The Supreme Court met in the winter, and the circuit courts met in spring and fall.

Burr was found not guilty. Many, including President Jefferson, who was pressing hard for a conviction, blamed the unsuccessful prosecution directly on Marshall, who gave the jury such a narrow definition of treason that a finding of guilty was almost impossible. The Democratic-Republican Jefferson felt the Federalist Marshall had taken the action to politically frustrate him.

Judicial power

In addition to reforming the Court's operating procedures, Marshall brought even more change through individual case rulings. After a delay while the new Congress repealed the recently passed Judiciary Act, Marshall convened court in February 1803. Changes came quickly. Most important was the case of Marbury v. Madison in 1803 (see box). In this ruling, Marshall established the principle of judicial review. This principle meant that the Court could exercise considerable legal power in deciding whether federal laws are constitutional or not.

In an 1810 decision, Marshall extended the power of judicial review to determine the constitutionality of state laws in Fletcher v. Peck. Later, in rulings made in 1816 and 1821, the Court further extended judicial review to the review of state court decisions where federal issues were involved.

Through these series of decisions defining judicial review, Marshall established that the Constitution was the highest law of the land and that the courts were responsible for enforcing it. The independence of the judiciary was established and could be preserved through judicial review. Judicial review would later be used to keep states from encroaching on federal responsibilities and for protecting individual rights of citizens from government actions.

Creating economic stability

Many of Marshall's court decisions also supported the growth of corporations, a major Federalist goal earlier under Secretary of the Treasury Hamilton. The 1810 Peck decision had other major implications besides expanding judicial review. It was the first ruling to establish the strong legal standing of business contracts. This created a strong national economic stability.

Marbury v. Madison

The U.S. Supreme Court's 1803 Marbury v. Madison case launched a new era for the judicial system in America. In November 1800, the Federalists had lost the presidential election and many congressional seats to their rival political party, the Democratic-Republicans, who believed in a weak central government. The Federalists took action in their remaining months of political control before the inauguration date of March 4, 1801. The Federalist-controlled Congress passed the 1801 Judiciary Act creating additional federal courts. Then-President Adams, with assistance from Secretary of State John Marshall, filled the new court positions. Many appointments were made in the last hours of Adams's presidency, and the judges came to be known as the "midnight judges."

Some of the newly appointed judges had not received their formal papers, called commissions. Adams and Marshall signed and sealed the commissions, but some remained undelivered as Adams's time ran out on inauguration day, March 4, 1801. Adams appointed William Marbury, one of several new justices of the peace for the District of Columbia in the capital city. He was one of the justices who did not receive commissions. Upon taking office, President Thomas Jefferson ordered his new secretary of state, James Madison, not to deliver some of the remaining undelivered commissions to the newly appointed federal judges.

Marbury first unsuccessfully appealed to the State Department for his papers. Next, he filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court against Madison. Upon hearing the arguments in the case, Marshall and the Court unanimously found that Marbury deserved his papers. However, Marbury needed to file his lawsuit with a lower federal court. The Court ruled it did not have constitutional authority to accept such cases. It ruled that Section 13 of the 1789 Judiciary Act was unconstitutional by granting such a power to the Court. The section had authorized the Court to issue writs of mandamus (court orders) to government officials forcing them to take some action. The Court claimed such authority was not granted by the Constitution.

Marbury did not receive his judgeship and Marshall gave up some small amount of Court authority. However, on the other hand, he claimed enormous power for the Court in its judicial review role. It was the first occasion for the Supreme Court to rule a federal law unconstitutional. The Court soon showed in another case that judicial review could support a federal government action, such as chartering a national bank. Thus, the Marbury decision defined and expanded the area of responsibility of the judicial system, a major step in shaping the national government.

In McCulloch v. Maryland in 1819, the Court upheld the constitutional power of Congress to charter corporations, in this case the Second National Bank of the United States. The decision determined that Congress needed to stabilize currency and the national financial system. Creating a national bank, the Court determined, was a suitable way to achieve those goals. The decision most importantly supported a flexible, or "loose," interpretation of the Constitution by supporting the implied powers in the Necessary and Proper Clause of the Constitution. Government had certain unwritten powers it could exercise to help it accomplish its explicit, enumerated, responsibilities granted in the Constitution.

Other decisions promoted economic growth. Gibbons Ogden (1824) involved a New York law restricting steamboat navigation in the state. Marshall again supported a broad interpretation of congressional powers over interstate commerce, striking down the state law as unconstitutional. The Court's decision essentially created a national free trade zone within the nation that greatly facilitated interstate commerce.

Through these decisions, the power of the national government was becoming well established, and the Supreme Court had become the final source for interpreting those powers. Many were upset with these newly defined powers of the Court. Despite efforts through Congress to limit the powers that Marshall had established, particularly over state laws and state court decisions, nothing resulted. The will of the public seemed to support Marshall.

New directions

The election of Andrew Jackson (1767–1845; served 1829–37; see entry in volume 1) as president in 1828 was a major blow to Marshall as was the death of his wife. Jackson supported strong state powers in conflict with Marshall's philosophy. When Jackson was in office, Marshall issued two historic Court decisions, Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1832) and Worcester v. Georgia (1833). Marshall defined the legal relationship between the federal government and Native American tribes that persisted into the twenty-first century. He labeled tribes as "domestic dependent nations" having a distinction from state governments and established that only the U.S. Congress has the power to regulate tribal activities. However, the idea that states could nullify (ignore) federal laws was gaining strength by the early 1830s, and even Jackson as U.S. president refused to enforce the Worcester decision. It was a dark moment in the history of the Supreme Court.

The Court unity that Marshall had nurtured also began to decrease by the 1830s in his last years as chief justice. More decisions began including separate concurring statements, often supporting the Court's decision but perhaps for different reasons and representing dissenting opinions.

Away from the courtroom

For much of the year, the courts were not in session. During his time away from the bench, Marshall enjoyed novels and poetry and relaxing on his farm near Richmond. Between 1804 and 1807, he also wrote a five-volume biography of George Washington and, at the age of seventy-four, served in a Virginia constitutional convention in 1829. He also enjoyed entertaining, often hosting dinners for lawyers at his home. He lived the life of a Virginia gentleman, but he typically wore plain clothing and could be seen doing his own shopping at Richmond markets. He was very personable, charming, and informal.

By 1830, when Marshall was seventy-five, his own health began declining, but he remained mentally sharp. In 1831, he had surgery to remove kidney stones, but he recovered sufficiently to continue serving in the Court until his death on July 6, 1835.