A writ of mandamus means “we command” and is a court ordering someone to do something. Supreme Court seeking a writ of mandamus to force Secretary of State Madison to deliver the commission. On December 21, 1801, Marbury sued in the U.S. When Jefferson took office, he directed his secretary of State, James Madison, not to deliver the remaining commissions, one of which was for a man named William Marbury. The judicial commissions were handled by John Marshall’s office, because he was still serving as secretary of State, but by midnight on March 3, at least four of them had not yet been delivered. The Senate confirmed all these appointees on March 3, 1801, just one day before the national government changed political hands. Marbury turned on an act passed on February 27, 1801, authorizing Adams to appoint forty-two justices of the peace for the District of Columbia and Alexandria, Virginia, each to serve for a five-year term. It was part of a suite of legislative and executive activity aimed at keeping Federalist control of the federal judiciary. On February 13, 1801, Congress passed the Circuit Court Act, which established six new circuit courts with sixteen judges, all of whom were to be appointed by Adams and quickly approved by the Federalist Congress before Jefferson and the Republicans took office. He served in this role for thirty-four years and presided over many landmark cases, including Marbury v. John Marshall, shown here in this 1834 portrait, was the fourth chief justice of the U.S. At Adams’s request, Marshall also continued to serve as secretary of State through March 3, 1801, the last day of Adams’s presidential administration. Marshall was quickly confirmed by the lame-duck Federalist Congress and was sworn in as chief justice on February 4, 1801. For Adams, it was a matter of first importance to nominate and confirm a successor before the Jeffersonian Republicans took office.Īdams appointed his loyal colleague and secretary of State, John Marshall, who accepted the nomination. But in December 1800, he and the Federalists were dealt another political blow: Oliver Ellsworth, the staunch Federalist then serving as chief justice of the U.S. After this electoral defeat, Adams had written to John Jay, “In the future Administration of our country, the firmest security We can have against the Effects of visionary Schemes or fluctuating Theories will be in a solid Judiciary.” It was apparent to Adams that after the election, only the judicial branch of government would remain in Federalist hands. When Jefferson entered the presidency and decided not to have the commissions delivered, he did so in the political context of the election of 1800, which saw John Adams and the Federalists lose not only the presidency but also both houses of Congress. Madison) to deliver the commission intended for him. Marbury, named in one of them, applied to the Supreme Court for a Mandamus to the Secretary of State, (Mr. I found them on the table of the department of State, on my entrance into office, and I forbade their delivery. These were signed and sealed by him, but not delivered. Adams’ were commissions to some federal justices of the peace for Alexandria. Twenty years after Marbury, Thomas Jefferson recalled how the case began, with last-minute appointments by outgoing president John Adams:Īmong the midnight appointments of Mr. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.” And although Marbury is best known for clearly establishing the concept of judicial review, it is also a case that was defined at every level by the political battles of the early 1800s between the Federalists, who were fighting to retain political power, and the Jeffersonian Republicans, who were fighting to consolidate it after their electoral victory. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall famously declared: “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is. In the unanimous 1803 Supreme Court decision Marbury v. It can also be paired with the John Marshall’s Landmark Cases DBQ Lesson to expose students to other Supreme Court cases decided by John Marshall. It can be paired with the Was the Election of 1800 a Revolution? Point-Counterpoint to introduce students to the Age of Jefferson. This Decision Point should be assigned at the beginning of the chapter, following the Chapter 5 Introductory Essay: 1800–1828.
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