A Conversation with John Marshall: A Living History Presentation
This program is available to non-profit organizations through the New Hampshire Humanities Council and the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.
For additional information contact Richard A. Hesse
Description
The year is 1835. The place is
Washington, D.C. John Marshall has been the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court of the United States since 1801. Throughout the
years of his public service he has fought, literally and figuratively,
to establish a strong national government and an independent federal
judiciary. He has been opposed in those efforts by powerful
politicians including Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe and
Andrew Jackson. Although his opponents controlled the Congress
and the White House for all but four years of Marshall's tenure on the
Court, Marshall prevailed in advancing his views on the law and the
Constitution. Marshall reflects on his life and explains his
views as well as his fears for the future of the country.
Essay
A new nation faces an awesome array of
problems. The United States was no exception. Its
first efforts were, by almost all accounts, a dismal failure. Its
first charter, the Article of Confederation (1781), left the national
government with a weak legislature and executive and without any
judicial system; power was located in the states of the union.
Those who thought about adjusting the Articles quickly realized that
the system of government in those articles was so flawed that a new
start was required.
John Marshall had been an active soldier in the
Revolutionary War during which the armed forces were forced to depend
upon a weak Congress, state legislatures that were unwilling to tax
their citizens to support the war, and local farmers organized as a
militia to oppose the strongest army in the world. Marshall, as a
lawyer and legislator in Virginia, witnessed first hand and was
appalled by his state's participation in the United States
government. When the Constitution of 1787 was brought to
Virginia, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton turned to Marshall, then
32 years old, to be one of the leading advocates for adoption, pitting
him against the likes of Patrick Henry and George Mason.
During the Washington and Adams administrations,
Marshall supported their fiscal and foreign policies although he
declined to become involved in national politics until he was convinced
by Washington to run for Congress in 1798. He was an outstanding
congressman who enjoyed the respect of members of both political
parties. Late in the Adams administration he became Secretary of
State and was appointed to the Supreme Court in the last months of
Adams' term.
In the next 34 years he reshaped the Supreme Court
to create a model which stands to this day. He established the
judicial branch of the federal government as an institution based on
the rule of law and the limits of the Constitution. He developed
legal doctrines in international and domestic law that remain the
controlling precedents in our jurisprudence. And he was
personally involved in some fascinating historical events such as the
first and only impeachment of a Supreme Court justice and the trial of
former Vice-President Aaron Burr for treason, as well as the somewhat
personal confrontations with President Jefferson and President
Jackson.
Several aspects of Marshall's life and times are
directly relevant to modern times. The battle over state versus
federal power continues, with no end in sight. And the political
efforts to limit the role of the courts is a platform plank for one of
our modern political parties just as it was in Marshall's time with the
issues remaining exactly as they were.
In informal conversation, Marshall will present his
views and explain how and why they developed. The audience then
can explore any aspect of his life and times in a question and answer
format. Finally, I am prepared to step out of character to field
question about the history or the scholarship.
Websites of Interest
The John Marshall Foundation
The John Marshall House
The Supreme Court Historical Society
