The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815-1835

The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815-1835 PDF Author: G. Edward White
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195070590
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 807

Get Book Here

Book Description
G. Edward White's monumental study on the Marshall Court, originally published as Volumes III-IV of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court, shows how the decisions made between 1815 and 1835 reveal an active reinterpretation of the Constitution and its principles of republicanism to suit the requirements of a rapidly changing nation. Placing the Marshall Court within the cultural and ideological context of early nineteenth-century America, White argues that the Court recast the language of the Constitution to give certain crucial terms the appearance of timeless legal principles, and promoted a style of judicial decision-making that concealed the discretionary elements of constitutional interpretation from public scrutiny, thus fostering the impression of an objective, non-partisan Court. Now available in an abridged paperback edition, The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815-1835 will be essential for courses in American legal and constitutional history.

The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815-1835

The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815-1835 PDF Author: G. Edward White
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195070590
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 807

Get Book Here

Book Description
G. Edward White's monumental study on the Marshall Court, originally published as Volumes III-IV of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court, shows how the decisions made between 1815 and 1835 reveal an active reinterpretation of the Constitution and its principles of republicanism to suit the requirements of a rapidly changing nation. Placing the Marshall Court within the cultural and ideological context of early nineteenth-century America, White argues that the Court recast the language of the Constitution to give certain crucial terms the appearance of timeless legal principles, and promoted a style of judicial decision-making that concealed the discretionary elements of constitutional interpretation from public scrutiny, thus fostering the impression of an objective, non-partisan Court. Now available in an abridged paperback edition, The Marshall Court and Cultural Change, 1815-1835 will be essential for courses in American legal and constitutional history.

The Role of Circuit Courts in the Formation of United States Law in the Early Republic

The Role of Circuit Courts in the Formation of United States Law in the Early Republic PDF Author: David Lynch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1509910867
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 287

Get Book Here

Book Description
While scholars have rightly focused on the importance of the landmark opinions of the United States Supreme Court and its Chief Justice, John Marshall, in the rise in influence of the Court in the Early Republic, the crucial role of the circuit courts in the development of a uniform system of federal law across the nation has largely been ignored. This book highlights the contribution of four Associate Justices (Washington, Livingston, Story and Thompson) as presiding judges of their respective circuit courts during the Marshall era, in order to establish that in those early years federal law grew from the 'inferior courts' upwards rather than down from the Supreme Court. It does so after a reading of over 1800 mainly circuit opinions and over 2000 original letters, which reveal the sources of law upon which the justices drew and their efforts through correspondence to achieve consistency across the circuits. The documents examined present insights into momentous social, political and economic issues facing the Union and demonstrate how these justices dealt with them on circuit. Particular attention is paid to the different ways in which each justice contributed to the shaping of United States law on circuit and on the Court and in the case of Justices Livingston and Thompson also during their time on the New York State Supreme Court.

Jay and Ellsworth, The First Courts

Jay and Ellsworth, The First Courts PDF Author: Matthew P. Harrington
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1576078426
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 327

Get Book Here

Book Description
A fascinating exploration of the first two Supreme Courts and how they laid the groundwork for the modern-day Court. When the Supreme Court was established in 1789, no other country had a judicial body quite like it. The early justices struggled to give definition to such concepts as "judicial review" and "separation of powers." The early court approached its role in ways that would be startling today, often using its power to support the new government rather than merely serving as an independent arbiter. The Jay-Ellsworth Courts were the first to take up the role of interpreting the constitution, and their approach influenced constitutional debates for the next two centuries. Clearly, this is a book for any reader who wishes to understand how the court was initially set up and how it functioned in our early judicial history.

Our Documents

Our Documents PDF Author: The National Archives
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198042272
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
Our Documents is a collection of 100 documents that the staff of the National Archives has judged most important to the development of the United States. The entry for each document includes a short introduction, a facsimile, and a transcript of the document. Backmatter includes further reading, credits, and index. The book is part of the much larger Our Documents initiative sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), National History Day, the Corporation for National and Community Service, and the USA Freedom Corps.

The Supreme Court Justices

The Supreme Court Justices PDF Author: Melvin Urofsky
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 113674746X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 598

Get Book Here

Book Description
First published in 1994. In the two centuries of governance under the Constitution, 105 men and two women have sat as justices on the nation’s highest tribunal, the Supreme Court of the United States. Each of them has brought some unique insights or talents to that position. Contributors to this volume were asked to concentrate on the judicial tenure of their subjects, and to interpret those careers and evaluate their importance. They were asked to deal with the pre-Court years only insofar as those experiences had a major impact on jurisprudence.

The People Themselves

The People Themselves PDF Author: Larry D. Kramer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198037821
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 376

Get Book Here

Book Description
In this groundbreaking interpretation of America's founding and of its entire system of judicial review, Larry Kramer reveals that the colonists fought for and created a very different system--and held a very different understanding of citizenship--than Americans believe to be the norm today. "Popular sovereignty" was not just some historical abstraction, and the notion of "the people" was more than a flip rhetorical device invoked on the campaign trail. Questions of constitutional meaning provoked vigorous public debate and the actions of government officials were greeted with celebratory feasts and bonfires, or riotous resistance. Americans treated the Constitution as part of the lived reality of their daily existence. Their self-sovereignty in law as much as politics was active not abstract.

The Supreme Court in American Politics

The Supreme Court in American Politics PDF Author: Howard Gillman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Get Book Here

Book Description
For decades political scientists studying the Court have adopted behavioral approaches and focused on the relatively narrow question of how the justices' policy preferences influence their voting behavior. This emphasis has illuminated important aspects of Supreme Court politics, but it has also left unaddressed many other important questions about this unique and fascinating institution. Drawing on "the new institutionalism" in the social sciences, the distinguished contributors to this volume attempt to fill this gap by exploring a variety of topics, including the Court's institutional development and its relationship to broader political contexts such as party regimes, electoral systems, social movements, social change, legal precedents, political identities, and historically evolving economic structures. The book's initial chapters examine the nature of the Court's distinctive norms as well as the development of its institutional powers and practice. A second section relates the development of Supreme Court politics to the historical development of other political institutions and social movements. Concluding chapters explore how its decision making in particular areas of law or periods of time is influenced by—and influences—its socio-political milieu. These contributions offer provocative insights regarding the Court's role in maintaining or disrupting political and economic structures, as well as social structures and identities tied to ideology, class, race, gender, and sexual orientation. The Supreme Court in American Politics shows how we can develop an enriched understanding of this institution, and open up exciting new areas of research by placing it in the broader context of politics in the United States.

The Republic Afloat

The Republic Afloat PDF Author: Matthew Taylor Raffety
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226924009
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the years before the Civil War, many Americans saw the sea as a world apart, an often violent and insular culture governed by its own definitions of honor and ruled by its own authorities. The truth, however, is that legal cases that originated at sea had a tendency to come ashore and force the national government to address questions about personal honor, dignity, the rights of labor, and the meaning and privileges of citizenship, often for the first time. By examining how and why merchant seamen and their officers came into contact with the law, Matthew Taylor Raffety exposes the complex relationship between brutal crimes committed at sea and the development of a legal consciousness within both the judiciary and among seafarers in this period. The Republic Afloat tracks how seamen conceived of themselves as individuals and how they defined their place within the United States. Of interest to historians of labor, law, maritime culture, and national identity in the early republic, Raffety’s work reveals much about the ways that merchant seamen sought to articulate the ideals of freedom and citizenship before the courts of the land—and how they helped to shape the laws of the young republic.

The Contract Clause

The Contract Clause PDF Author: James W. Ely, Jr.
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700623078
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book Here

Book Description
Few provisions of the American Constitution have had such a tumultuous history as the contract clause. Prompted by efforts in a number of states to interfere with debtor-creditor relationships after the Revolution, the clause—Article I, Section 10—reads that no state shall “pass any. . . Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts.” Honoring contractual commitments, in the framers' view, would serve the public interest to encourage commerce and economic growth. How the contract clause has fared, as chronicled in this book by James W. Ely, Jr., tells us a great deal about the shifting concerns and assumptions of Americans. Its history provides a window on matters central to American constitutional history, including the protection of economic rights, the growth of judicial review, and the role of federalism. Under the leadership of Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court construed the provision expansively, and it rapidly became the primary vehicle for federal judicial review of state legislation before the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment. Indeed, the contract clause was one of the most litigated provisions of the Constitution throughout the nineteenth century, and its history reflects the impact of wars, economic distress, and political currents on reading the Constitution. Ely shows how, over time, the courts carved out several malleable exceptions to the constitutional protection of contracts—most notably the notion of an inalienable police power—thus weakening the contract clause and enhancing state regulatory authority. His study documents the near-fatal blow dealt to the provision by New Deal constitutionalism, when the perceived need for governmental intervention in the economy superseded the economic rights of individuals. Though the 1970s saw a modest revival of interest in the contract clause, the criteria for invoking it remain uncertain. And yet, as state and local governments try to trim the benefits of public sector employees, the provision has once again figured prominently in litigation. In this book, James Ely gives us a timely, analytical lens for understanding these contemporary challenges, as well as the critical historical significance of the contract clause.

Translating Property

Translating Property PDF Author: María E. Montoya
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
ISBN: 0700613811
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

Get Book Here

Book Description
When American settlers arrived in the southwestern borderlands, they assumed that the land was unencumbered by property claims. But, as María Montoya shows, the Southwest was no empty quarter simply waiting to be parceled up. Although Anglo farmers claimed absolute rights under the Homestead Act, their claims were contested by Native Americans who had lived on the land for generations, Mexican magnates like Lucien Maxwell who controlled vast parcels under grants from Mexican governors, and foreign companies who thought they had purchased open land. The result was that the Southwest inevitably became a battleground between land regimes with radically different cultural concepts. The struggle over the Maxwell Land Grant, a 1.7-million-acre tract straddling New Mexico and Colorado, demonstrates how contending parties reinterpreted the meaning of property to uphold their claims to the land. Montoya reveals how those claims, with their deep historical and racial roots, have been addressed to the satisfaction of some and the bitter frustration of others. Translating Property describes how European and American investors effectively mistranslated prior property regimes into new rules that worked to their own advantage--and against those who had lived on the land previously. Montoya explores the legal, political, and cultural battles that swept across the Southwest as this land was drawn into world market systems. She shows that these legal issues still have real meaning for thousands of Mexican Americans who continue to fight for land granted to their families before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, or for continuing communal access to land now claimed by others. This new edition of Montoya’s book brings the land grant controversy up to date. A year after its original publication, the Colorado Supreme Court tried once more to translate Mexican property ideals into the U.S. system of legal rights; and in 2004 the Government Accounting Office issued the federal government’s most comprehensive effort to sort out the tangled history of land rights, concluding that Congress was under no obligation to compensate heirs of land grants. Montoya recaps these recent developments, further expanding our understanding of the battles over property rights and the persistence of inequality in the Southwest.