Description
When the Constitution was written in 1787, the Founders viewed the U.S. Supreme Court as the weakest branch of government. Today, the Court’s decisions influence every aspect of our Nation’s life. This series of classes will explore the Court’s evolution and the judicial titans responsible for it. (Sign up for one, two or all three sessions in this series. See class #160 for Part 2 and class #161 for Part 3.)
This session will consider how the Founders viewed the Court at the outset, and how the unequaled leadership of Chief Justice John Marshall transformed the Court into a powerful and respected institution. In this time he crafted groundbreaking and landmark decisions, beginning with Marbury v Madison, on judicial review of the constitutionality of the laws legislated, and on the authority of Congress and the states under the Constitution. Then in 1857 half of the country rejected the legitimacy of the Court’s Dred Scott decision overturning the Missouri Compromise, helping to precipitate the Civil War. In its immediate aftermath the Court’s prestige sank, and many of the Court’s gains under Marshall were threatened.
