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Creation of the Supreme Court
In Article 3 of the Constitution, the details for a Supreme Court and Judiciary Branch were explained by Congress. There were 13 District courts created in big cities, each having one judge. There were three Circuit Courts created to cover the three main regions of the U.S. -
John Jay
John Jay was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America. He was also the 2nd governer of New York, the 2nd U.S. Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and the 6th President of the Continental Congress. -
John Marshall
4th Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. His opinions helped form the foundations for american Constitutional Law. -
Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison formed the basis for judicial review in the U.S. under Article III of the Constitution. It was the first time in Western history a court invalidated a law by declaring it "unconstitutional." The landmark decision helped define the checks and balances of the American government. -
Fletcher v. Peck
Fletcher v. Peck was the first case where the Supreme Court ruled a state law unconstitutional. It also helped create a growing precedent for the sanctity of legal contracts, and clued that Native Americans didn't hold title to their own lands. -
Dartmouth College v. Woodward
Dartmouth College v. Woodward was a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with the application of the Contract Clause of the United States Constitution to private corporations. -
McCulloch v. Maryland (also McCullough)
The state of Maryland had attempted to stop operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by creating a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. -
Gibbons v. Ogden
Gibbons v. Ogden was a case in which the Supreme Court decided that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. The case was argued by some of America's most admired attorneys at the time. Thomas Addis Emmet and Thomas J. Oakley argued for Ogden, while William Wirt and Daniel Webster argued for Gibbons. -
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
The Cherokee Nation didn't want to have to foloow laws that were passed by Georgia, but the Supreme Court ruled against them, saying that the Cherokee were a dependent nation, with a relationship to the United States like that of a ward to its guardian. -
Worcester v. Georgia
This was a case where the Supreme Court gpt rid of the conviction of Samuel Worcester, and decided that the Georgia criminal statute that prohibited non-Indians from being present on Indian lands without a license from the state was unconstitutional. -
Commonwealth v. Hunt
This was a legal decision issued by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court about labor unions. Before this decision, based on Commonwealth v. Pullis, labor unions which attempted to 'close' or create a unionized workplace could be charged with conspiracy. But, in March 1842, Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw ruled that unions were legal organizations and had the right to organize a strike. -
Dred Scott v. Sanford
The Dred Scott decision was a ruling by the Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S. citizens. This decision continues to have an impact on society today, even though it is not true anymore.
