|
John Marshall was born in Fauquier County, Virginia, the eldest of fifteen children. He was educated by his parents and a clergyman who lived with the family. As a young man, John served in the Virginia Minutemen alongside his father, later joining the Continental Army in 1776. An early alliance formed with Washington when the Marshalls fought under his leadership in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. John was also present during the infamous winter in Valley Forge.
In 1780, John Marshall attended a series of lectures given by George Wythe at William and Mary College and set his sights on a career in law. He was licensed to practice later that year, setting up his own practice in Fauquier County. In 1782, he was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and moved to Richmond. John Marshall soon proved himself a brilliant interpreter of the law and a popular statesman, attributes which would serve him well as a future Supreme Court Justice. Marshall was influential in Virginia's ratification of the new country's Constitution, even organizing a state-wide ratification convention.
President George Washington offered Marshall several appointments in the new federal government, but John declined, as he preferred state legislation. However, he did accept an appointment as a member of a commission assigned the task of improving relations with France. During a trip to that nation, Marshall was told that the French government expected bribes as a means of assuring a good faith relationship between the U.S. ambassadors and French officials. Marshall voiced the feelings of the commission, rebuffing the idea altogether. Word of his stand leaked to American patriots who coined the slogan: "Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute."
After his return from France, Marshall ran for and was elected to Congress as a representative of the Richmond district in which he lived. Though declining both an appointment to the Supreme Court and the position of Secretary of War, Marshall did accept a position in the cabinet of President John Adams. From there, he was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
John Marshall recognized the new government as one that had three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Yet, the judicial branch's power and authority had not yet been determined. John Marshall set the precedents for the judicial branch of the federal government, precedents that are followed even today. In 1803, in the case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court ruled that Article III of the Constitution did not permit the existence of any statute that was in conflict with the Constitution itself. With the cases of Martin v. Hunter's Lessee and Cohens v. Virginia, Chief Justice Marshall led the Supreme Court in rulings that established the Supreme Court's right to review and overrule a state court decision.
It is interesting to note that John Marshall did not sign the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution; yet, when the Founding Fathers of the United States of America are listed, his is one of the names always on the list. His contributions in the area of Supreme Court decisions set the course for a new country. More than any other lawyer, statesman, or judge, John Marshall is credited with establishing the authority of the Supreme Court as equal with the legislative and executive branches of the United States federal government. He died in 1835, remembered in history as the Chief Justice who - as a fellow judge Jeremiah Mason so aptly put it - kept things from "falling to pieces."
|
| |
