Tim’s Reviews > John Marshall: Definer of a Nation > Status Update

See the seeds of the civil war in the south's immunological response to any judicial ruling that established the ability of the federal government to overrule a law passed by a state. Even when they agreed with the decision, they objected to the foundations on which the decisions were based and wanted the court to render the decision and literally not say why.

"... writing from Monticello to Senator Giles, the president criticized the judiciary at length, asserting that it was only 'the tricks of the judges' that stood between Burr and the gallows.... he repeatedly refers to the judgment of the people concerning Burr's guilt and denigrates the procedural guarantees of the law. The evidence, he told Giles, 'will satisfy the world, if not the judges, of Burr's guilt'"

I love how the chapter on Marshall's legal cases at the Virginia Bar open a window into this short post-colonial world. For example, he defended Angelica Barnett, a free black woman who killed a white man who invaded her home looking for escaped slaves. No black person could testify against a white person at that time, so she had to be pardoned by the Governor at the last minute. This was 1793.

I tried to read this about 10 years ago. I got about 200 pages in and then gave up. I've been intimidated to start it again. I'm glad I let it sit because right now I'm really enjoying it. I had to start over because I don't remember jack, which is itself intimidating. Anyway, it is a very good way to tune out current political rhetoric, and also realize underhanded politics were a thing in the early 1800s.