John Marshall the Great Chief Justice free essay sample

John Marshall: The Great Chief Justice John Marshall was born in Figurer County, Virginia on September 4, 1755. He was the first son of Thomas Marshall and Mary Randolph Keith. His role in American history is undoubtedly a very important one. As a boy, Marshall was educated by his father. He learned to read and write, along with some lessons in history and poetry. At the age of fourteen, he was sent away to school, and a year later he returned home to be tutored by a Scottish pastor who lived with the Marshall family. As a young college student, John Marshall was particularly impressed by the structures of professor George Withy.Withy was a lawyer, judge, and a signer of the constitution. Other students Of professor Withy were Thomas Jefferson, John Befriending, and Henry Clay. Marshall became a layover at the age of twenty five. As Brian Mincing says about Marshall in the article, His first cases were not important, but he handled them well and made a favorable impression on his neighbors; so favorable that they sent him to Richmond in 1 782 as a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. We will write a custom essay sample on John Marshall: the Great Chief Justice or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He became a prominent lawyer and was on his way to a successful future. Mr.. Marshall worked under the administration of John Adams starting in 1798.He was offered the position of attorney general under George Washingtons administration, but declined because he wanted to stay with his family and practice law in his home town of Richmond, Virginia. He was one of three delegates sent to France by John Adams in 1798. His reasoning for taking the job in France was partly because it was only a temporary mission and also because he wanted to be of service to his country, aiding in peaceful relations with F-range. When he found out that France expected to be paid, he as outraged and believed they were soliciting bribery.Although the mission to France was a failure, he returned to the US a hero. Marshall was appointed to the position of secretary of state by John Adams in 1800. He was put in charge of foreign affairs and was often left in charge of the government when Adams was gone. Then, later that year, he was appointed to be chief justice of the US by Adams before Thomas Jefferson took over the presidency. Thomas Jefferson soon took office and John Marshall was now chief justice. Although the two were distant cousins, they held very different positions and longed to opposing political parties. Jefferson believed that the constitution should be interpreted strictly to keep the governments power relatively low. In the article, Mr.. Mincing sums up Marshals views of what government should be: Marshall believed in a strong central government, in the Constitution as the key to the laws of the land, and in courts as the supreme custodians of those lawsviews that would influence his shaping of the Supreme Court. Marshall believed that the Constitution should not be interpreted as strict, allowing the government to become more powerful. Possibly the most important case of its time was Mammary vs.. Madison in 1803. In this case, John Marshals ruling set an extremely important precedent. His ruling declared that a law was unconstitutional, therefore setting a precedent giving the Supreme Court the power to declare laws unconstitutional. Because of this ruling alone, John Marshall is a very prominent figure in American history and American law, but his achievements do not end at that. During John Marshals life, and particularly during his reign as chief justice, the power of the judicial branch became equally powerful to the other branches of the US government.