Introduction to US History/John Marshall

Work by: Aaqib A. (December 2021)

Instructions
It is July 6, 1836 in downtown Richmond. You have a new job as a news reporter for the city’s newspaper, “The Richmond Enquirer.”

Word has just come from Philadelphia that our beloved, local hometown hero, John Marshall has passed away. You are expected to write a front page obituary on who he was, what he did for the Supreme Court and why his death will be mourned by the entire nation. Your editor is amazed to learn that the great Chief Justice was born in, of all things, a log cabin in the backwoods of Virginia. '''He wants to know how and why he came to call Richmond home. What are you going to say?'''

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Essay
John Marshall is the US's fourth chief justice from 1801 to his death in 1835. Despite serving under his rival, Thomas Jefferson, and coming from a simple log cabin to a family of 15 in the countryside of Virginia, he emerged as one of the most legendary chief justices to have ever served in this country. What makes him earn such a prominent compliment is his defending of the judicial power and declaring actions of the other branches as "unconstitutional". Essentially, he asserted to the other branches that the judicial branch, a branch that didn't even exist in the Articles of Confederation, was not a "faction" of the other branches but its own, separate branch. His death last year would surely be a massive loss for the nation, who will miss a man who didn't give in to foreign/political influences (XYZ affair/Andrew Jackson in Worcester vs. Georgia (1832)) and set the precedent for the Constitution's reputation that it was the law, not a set of policies. The American population, to a certain extent, is obliged to mourn a leader who served solely for American values and fought to make sure the Constitution's voice was heard.

His most notable case, where he set the power of judicial review and the US Constitution, is Marbury vs. Madison. A day before Thomas Jefferson took the office of the presidency, Adams was panicking nominating several men of his choice to serve in the federal courts in order to counter Thomas Jeffersons' political "cabinet". John Marshall, who was appointed chief of justice by Adams two months prior, didn't get to send the paperwork out to all of the men who were nominated - including William Marbury, a Virginian politician who was nominated as Justice of Peace in the District of Columbia.

When TJ arrived, he ordered his own Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold the four papers that didn't get sent. Marbury, in response, sued TJ and petitioned for a "writ of mandamus" (order from a higher court towards a lower court to perform their intended duties) for the Supreme Court to make Madison hand over the papers. As a party involved in this whole case, he was left with either risking the reputation of the Court or submitting to pressure. He decided that TJ was in the wrong for not delivering the papers to William Marbury as it was already determined that Marbury was to be a Justice of Peace. Therefore, Marbury was in the right to sue TJ for what was rightfully his. The bigger question is whether or not the Supreme Court had any right to issue a writ of mandamus? The answer is no per the unconstitutionality of Section 13 of the Judiciary Act of 1789. This section gave the Supreme Court more power than it was written to do so in the Constitution. Section 13 gave the Court the power to issue a writ of mandamus under its original jurisdiction, which contradicted Article III of Section II of the Constitution, in which the Supreme Court only had appellate jurisdiction in cases that do not involve "Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party". Since this case did not fit that criterion, Marshall ruled that Congress' issue of the Judiciary Act of 1789 was partially unconstitutional and ruled somewhat in favor of TJ by stating that the court had no such authority to issue a writ (although TJ was in the wrong). This case blew up in the US, establishing the importance of the judicial branch and normalizing judicial review.

His location of "home", being Richmond, VA, should come as no surprise. He lived in the city after his "election to the legislature" and represented Richmond, VA in the fall 1798 elections as a Federalist representative. Many courts in VA held their sessions in the capital and he eventually built his own house to live there. After his death, his hometown is who commemorate him the most with the John Marshall museum (his house turned into a museum) and the whole town mourning the loss of a great political figure.