The Legacy of the Marshall Court (1801-1835)

Chief Justice John Marshall (Boston Athenaeum)

I. Major Goals of Marshall

A. Increase the powers of the national government

B. Diminish the powers of the states

C. Perpetuate the Federalist principle of centralization.

II. Strengthening the National Government

A. Cases expanding the authority of the Supreme Court
1. Marbury v. Madison (1803) gave the Court the power of judicial review.

2. U.S. v. Peters (1809) established the Court's right to coerce a state legislature

3. Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) confirmed the Court's right to overrule a state court

4. Cohens v. Virginia (1821). States were no longer sovereign in all respects since they had ratified the Constitution. State courts must submit to federal jurisdiction.

B. Cases expanding the powers of Congress

1. McCullough v. Maryland (1819) upheld the right of Congress to charter a national bank, thus putting into national law the doctrine of implied powers.

2. Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) gave the national government undisputed control over interstate commerce by ruling invalid a steamboat monopoly chartered by New York state. This freed internal transportation from state restraint.

III. Weakening the States

A. Fletcher v. Peck (1810) established the principle that state laws were invalid when in conflict with the Constitution

B. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) by forbidding the state legislature to alter the college charter, established the principle that charters were contracts which could not be impaired.

C. Martin v. Mott (1827) denied a state the right to withhold its militia from service.

IV. Legacy of Marshall

A. Established the primacy of federal government over states in exercising control of economy

B. Opened the way for an increased federal role in promoting economic growth

C. Affirmed protection for corporations and other private economic institutions from local governmental interference. This allowed for the growth of the new industrial capitalist economy.

Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources"
http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998).

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