The writings of John Marshall, late chief justice of the United States, upon the federal Constitution

Library of America #198

by John Marshall

The writings of John Marshall, late chief justice of the United States, upon the federal Constitution 761 pages

Genres: Law, History, Essays, American Revolution, Politics, Biography, Nonfiction

592 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 1987

About the author

John Marshall was an American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States, serving from February 4, 1801, until his death in 1835. He served in the United States House of Representatives from March 4, 1799, to June 7, 1800, and, under President John Adams, was Secretary of State from June 6, 1800, to March 4, 1801. Marshall was from the Commonwealth of Virginia and a leader of the Federalist Party.

The longest serving Chief Justice in Supreme Court history, Marshall dominated the Court for over three decades (a term outliving his own Federalist Party) and played a significant role in the development of the American legal system. Most notably, he established that the courts are entitled to exercise judicial review, the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. Thus, Marshall has been credited with cementing the position of the judiciary as an independent and influential branch of government. Furthermore, Marshall made several important decisions relating to Federalism, shaping the balance of power between the federal government and the states during the early years of the republic. In particular, he repeatedly confirmed the supremacy of federal law over state law and supported an expansive reading of the enumerated powers.

Reviews

[robin friedman · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Marshall In The Library Of America

John Marshall (1755 -- 1835) served as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1801 to 1835. He left an indelible imprint on the Court and on American institutions as he addressed the nature of the Federal government, the proper role of the Federal judiciary, the relationship between the national and the state governments, the scope of Congressional and executive power, the sanctity of private property, the nature of the United States' relationship with the Indian tribes, and many other important matters. Chief Justice Marshall remains best-known for his decision in Marbury v. Madison (1801) rendered early in his tenure in which he found that the Supreme Court had the power, in an appropriate case, to rule an act of Congress unconstitutional. Many of Marshall's opinions remain required reading for law students. They have remained studied and debated, followed and qualified, by generations of his judicial successors, by scholars, and by lawyers.

In one of the letters collected in this new Library of America volume of the writings of John Marshall, Marshall observes: "Law Reports can have but a limited circulation. They rarely gain admission into the libraries of other than professional gentlemen. The circulation of the decisions of the Supreme Court will probably be still more limited than those of the courts of the states, because they are useful to a smaller number of the profession." (Letter to Dudley Chase, February 7, 1817, LOA, page 387) With this observation of the Great Chief Justice in mind, one might question the appeal to a broad readership of a large book consisting in good measure of Supreme Court opinions from the first third of the Nineteenth Century. Most legal opinions resist casual reading. In this instance, however, any skepticism about the volume is misplaced. Marshall's legal opinions and writings richly deserve their place in a series devoted to the best of American thought and American letters. Written in the early days of our country in days of unsettled precedents, Marshall's opinions have a teaching function. They were addressed not only to lawyers and parties in the specific cases before the Court, but also to the American people as Marshall set forth his understanding of the nature of the United States and its institutions in a period of high political turbulence.

For readers without background in law or in American history, Marshall's opinions will be intense, close reading, but they will repay the effort. Marshall's seminal legal decisions are included in this collection in a highly attractive format. The opinions include the opinion in Marbury v Madison (1801) mentioned above as well as the equally important decision in MCulloch v. Maryland (1819) in which Marshall expounded upon the scope of Congressional power to legislate. Together with the Mculloch opinion, the volume includes a collection of articles Marshall wrote under a pseudonym to defend the decision against criticism from strong advocates of state's rights.

Many scholars see some of Marshall's greatest and most courageous writing in three opinions he wrote regarding the relationship between the United States, the States, and the Indian tribes: Johnson v. McIntosh (1823), Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831), and the famous opinion late in his career of Worcester v. Georgia (1832) in which Marshall tried to protect the lands of the Cherokee Nation from encroachment by the state and by settlers. These opinions established the foundation of Federal Indian law. Other Marshall opinions in this volume include, Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819), Fletcher v. Peck (1810), Cohens v. Virginia (1821), Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), and Barron v. Baltimore (1833). In each of these opinions, Marshall writes forcefully about issues that remain fundamental to the nature of American government and legal values.

Early in his tenure as Chief Justice, Marshall presided over the trial for treason of the former vice-president of the United States under Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr. This volume includes Marshall's two rulings from this notorious case. In the first, Marshall ordered President Thomas Jefferson to turn over to Burr executive papers that Marshall believed were necessary for Burr's defense. In the second opinion, Marshall gave a detailed and narrow construction to prosecutions for treason under the Federal Constitution. As a result of his reading, Burr was acquitted. This decision was an act of judicial courage on Marshall's part. Marshall's technically close reading of the definition of treason in the constitution, and Burr's guilt of the offense, were controversial at the time and remain so.

Besides the judicial opinions, this volume gives an overview of Marshall's entire career and of his life. Marshall served in the Revolutionary War, became a highly successful lawyer, and participated in the Virginia convention to ratify the Constitution. He became inextricably involved in national politics when he served as one of the three envoys President John Adams sent to France to try to attain peace in what became notorious as the "XYZ" affair. Marshall subsequently served in Congress, at the urging of George Washington and as Secretary of State under Adams before Adams appointed him late in his administration to the position of Chief Justice. Marshall had earlier declined proposed appointments as a Justice of the Supreme Court, and as Attorney General under Washington, among other positions. In 1804, Marshall wrote a five-volume biography of George Washington which he returned to repeatedly during his tenure on the Supreme Court and republished in a shortened, edited version in 1832. This LOA text includes a good selection from Marshall's Life of Washington. I was left wanting more. The volume also includes many letters from Marshall to his beloved wife Mary (Polly), to his friend and colleague on the Supreme Court, Joseph Story, and to many other correspondents. The volume offers a good total picture of Marshall's life and attainments on and off the bench.

Charles Hobson, the author of "The Great Chief Justice: Marshall and the Rule of Law" (1996) and of a comprehensive 12-volume edition of Marshall's papers edited this Library of America volume. The volume includes Hobson's detailed chronology of Marshall's life and his notes, which are more extensive than usual for the Library of America series. The chronology and notes provide necessary background in understanding many of Marshall's documents. This volume of Marshall's writings is illustrative of some of the important thoughts and values that Americans have offered up in the areas of politics, law, and history. These writings dovetail and complement other volumes in the series which show American contributions to fiction, poetry, philosophy, and other matters. Readers interested in the American experience and in American thought will treasure this collection of writings by the Great Chief Justice.

Robin Friedman

[Paul Jellinek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another terrific release by the Library of America, this one focused on John Marshall--the man who, as the nation's fourth chief justice, established the Supreme Court as a co-equal branch of government with Congress and the President. He also established the primacy of the Constitution and the Supreme Court over the state constitutions and supreme courts, which was critical to holding the union together in its early years. In addition to Marshall's most important judicial decisions, the book includes a sampling of his personal and professional correspondence, as well as selections from his biography of George Washington, a man he had known personally and greatly admired. In the end, I came away from this book deeply grateful that we as a nation were fortunate enough to have a man of Marshall's great intellect, integrity, and humanity at the helm of the court during those early formative years.

[Jdb · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This LOA volume contains a number of JM’s most noteworthy SCOTUS opinions as well as numerous letters. Unfortunately his letters are mostly mundane but this is offset by the logic and brilliance of his court opinions, especially McCullough v. Maryland, which should be part of any American Constitutional history class.

[Aaron Crofut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the time spent on it, which was considerable. Many of the court cases can be found elsewhere but should be required reading for responsible citizens. His personal letters give a good account of life during the early 19th Century. Marshall spends his last years quite convinced the southern states, swayed by the likes of Jefferson and Madison that the Constitution created a league rather than a national government, would split from the rest of the union, as indeed happened 25 years after Marshall's death. Interestingly from the modern perspective, this split in constitutional theory (the idea of "states' rights") seems to originate over Hamilton's bank, not the issue of slavery, and becomes inflamed in the Nullification Crisis over the issue of tariffs.

If anything, it seems the slave argument adopted an already well formed constitutional theory made for other purposes.

Marshall himself comes off as a pleasant person. The man almost single-handedly carried the Federalist idea for three decades. Given its superiority to the alternative, we owe Marshall a great debt of gratitude.

[S.D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

* review pending *