John Marshall

Marshall is generally regarded as the most consequential Chief Justice in American history. He strengthened the institutional authority of the Supreme Court, established judicial review as a central feature of constitutional government, and articulated a broad conception of federal constitutional power. His opinions frequently spoke for a unanimous or nearly unanimous Court, allowing him to establish doctrines that would define American constitutional law for generations.

Marshall was born on September 24, 1755, in Germantown, Virginia, in what was then Fauquier County. He was the eldest son of Thomas Marshall, a surveyor and landowner, and grew up in a large family on Virginia's frontier. His formal education was limited, but he read extensively, including legal and political works that shaped his later understanding of government.

Marshall served as an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, experiencing the harsh conditions of the winter at Valley Forge. After studying law, he established a practice in Virginia and entered state politics. He became one of Virginia's leading Federalists, represented the state at the Constitutional Convention's ratifying debates, served in Congress, and eventually became President John Adams's Secretary of State. Adams nominated him Chief Justice in January 1801.

Marshall transformed the Court into a coherent constitutional institution. In Marbury v. Madison (1803), he established the principle that courts may refuse to enforce legislation inconsistent with the Constitution. In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), he upheld Congress's authority to establish a national bank and articulated a broad interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause. In Cohens v. Virginia (1821), he affirmed the Supreme Court's authority to review state-court judgments involving federal questions. Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819) strengthened constitutional protection for contracts, while Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) reinforced federal authority over interstate commerce.

Marshall remained Chief Justice until his death. His health deteriorated during his final years, but he continued to participate in the Court's work. He died in Philadelphia on July 6, 1835, after undergoing surgery for bladder stones. He was eighty years old.

Marshall's legacy is enormous. He established the Supreme Court as an authoritative interpreter of the Constitution, strengthened federal supremacy, and gave practical meaning to constitutional provisions governing federal power. His approach was strongly Federalist and nationalist, although his method relied on constitutional text, structure, history, and reason rather than on the modern terminology of “originalism.”

Constitutional approach: Original/structural Federalist constitutionalist. Marshall was not a living constitutionalist in the modern sense. His opinions sometimes interpreted broad constitutional terms according to their purpose and structure, but he consistently presented his reasoning as an interpretation of the Constitution that the founding generation had enacted.

Key decisions

Separate opinions: Marshall overwhelmingly preferred one authoritative opinion for the Court, rather than separate concurrences and dissents. He dissented only once in a major case, Ogden v. Saunders (1827), where he argued that the Contract Clause prohibited state bankruptcy laws affecting existing contracts.