The Handy American History Answer Book. David L. Hudson
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believed the federal government overstepped its bounds by imposing too great a tax burden on farmers. The protest was seen by some as reminiscent of the colonists’ protest of the British government’s Stamp Act tax on the colonists.
Washington eventually considered the resistance movement serious enough that he led a formidable force of more than thirteen thousand troops to suppress the rebellion. It was the only time a sitting president actually led troops toward a battle. Washington led the troops to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, but not all the way to face the farmers who were just outside Pittsburgh. The farmers kowtowed to the federal authority, and Washington pardoned those in the uprising who swore allegiance to the federal government.
What were the controversial “Alien and Sedition Acts”?
The Alien and Sedition Acts, passed in 1798, caused great controversy. This legislation consisted of four laws: (1) the Naturalization Act, which increased the required period of residence for would-be citizens from five to fourteen years; (2) the Alien Friends Act, which gave the president the power to remove from the country outsiders he deemed “dangerous”; (3) the Alien Enemies Act, which gave the president the power to deport those aliens who were from countries at war with the United States; and (4) the Sedition Act, which made it a crime to make “false, scandalous, and malicious” writings against the government. Many—including Vice President Thomas Jefferson—opposed these laws as an invasion of state rights and a violation of individual freedoms. For example, many believed the Sedition Act of 1798 violated the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
For the most part, the Sedition Act was used to prosecute editors of Democratic-Republican newspapers. These editors published newspapers that criticized President John Adams and his foreign policy towards France. Men such as Benjamin Franklin Bache, editor of the General Advertiser in Philadelphia (also known as the Aurora), and Anthony Haswell, editor of the Vermont Gazette, were arrested for their sharp criticism of Federalists. The Alien and Sedition Act was never appealed to the Supreme Court, even after judicial review was established by Marbury v. Madison.
What famous document did Madison draft in opposition to the Alien and Sedition Acts?
Madison—and his friend Thomas Jefferson—adamantly opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, adopted by the Federalist-controlled Congress and signed by President John Adams. In response, Madison and Jefferson drafted the Virginia and Kentucky resolutions, documents approved by the states’ respective state legislatures, declaring the new federal laws null and void. Madison drafted the Virginia Resolution, while Jefferson wrote the Kentucky Resolutions.
What was the XYZ Affair?
The XYZ Affair refers to a failed peace mission (1797–1798) between three American envoys (Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry) and three agents of the French foreign minister Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand (Jean Conrad Hottinger, Pierre Bellamy, and Lucien Hauteval). Talleyrand instructed his envoys to refuse negotiations with the American envoys unless Talleyrand received a personal payment (in actuality, a bribe) of $25,000 and a $10 million loan to France. The three Americans refused and negotiations ended, exacerbating tensions between the two countries. Adams later referred to the three French agents as X, Y, and Z.
What was the Quasi-War?
The Quasi-War was the name given to the conflict between France and the United States between 1798 and 1800. French and American vessels fought at sea for much of that time, though there never was a formal declaration of war.
How was the U.S. Supreme Court created?
Article III, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution provided that “the judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” The Constitution was adopted in 1787 and ratified in 1788. However, the Constitution did not create the U.S. Supreme Court. Congress passed a law known as the Judiciary Act of 1789, which created the Court and established its jurisdiction. The Judiciary Act of 1789 called for six justices on the Court—a chief justice and five associate justices.
Who was the principal author of the Judiciary Act of 1789?
Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut was the principal author of the Judiciary Act of 1789. A member of the Philadelphia Convention of 1787, Ellsworth became a U.S. senator when the Senate first convened in 1789. He was elected chair of the committee designed to follow the dictates of Article III of the new Constitution to create a federal judicial system. William Paterson from New Jersey, another member of the 1787 Convention and an original U.S. senator, also assisted in the drafting of the Judiciary Act of 1789. Both Ellsworth and Paterson later became justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. They were both classmates at the College of New Jersey (later Princeton College) before they entered politics.
Who were the first six justices on the U.S. Supreme Court?
The first six justices on the U.S. Supreme Court were John Jay (chief justice), John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, and James Iredell. Robert H. Harrison was one of the first six justices nominated to the Court, but he declined the nomination because of poor health. In his place, President George Washington nominated Iredell of North Carolina.
John Jay was the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, serving from 1789 to 1795. He was the second governor of New York state from 1795 until 1801.
When did the U.S. Supreme Court initially meet?
The U.S. Supreme Court initially met on February 2, 1790, in the Royal Exchange Building on New York City’s Broad Street. The Court met on the second floor of the building in the afternoons, as the New York state legislature met there during the morning hours. A year later, the Court convened in Philadelphia, the new national capital. The U.S. Supreme Court did not meet in Washington, D.C., until February 2, 1801.
Why is John Marshall considered the greatest of the chief justices?
In his 1996 biography of Marshall, author Jean Edward Smith referred to the chief justice as “the Definer of the Nation.” Marshall’s opinions gave the U.S. Supreme Court and the judicial branch the power and respect they deserved. He did this in many ways. For example, he persuaded his colleagues to drop the practice of in seriatim opinions, where each justice would speak and issue his own opinion. Under Marshall, the Court often spoke in one unified voice—many times through Chief Justice Marshall himself. He also established the principle of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison (1803), which gave the judiciary the power to review the constitutionality of legislation and executive regulations. As Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote in her book The Majesty of the Law: “It is no overstatement to claim that Chief Justice Marshall fulfilled the Constitution’s promise of an independent federal judiciary.”
Another factor of Marshall’s greatness is that he was the first chief justice to serve for a significant period of time. Marshall served thirty-four years on the Court. In comparison, the first chief justice, John Jay, served only six years, and John Rutledge and Oliver Ellsworth served shorter periods of time. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, who served from 1902–1932, believed part of Marshall’s greatness lay in his “being there” during the formative period of the nation. But Marshall was more than just an accidental force of history. He had great leadership abilities that enabled him to guide the Court during his lengthy term as the Chief.
What were the underlying facts of Marbury v. Madison?
Federalist President John Adams was leaving office, having suffered defeat at the hands of his vice president and political rival, Thomas Jefferson of the Democratic-Republican party. The Federalist Congress quickly passed a new judiciary act that created many new judgeships, including forty-five justice of the peace positions. Adams’s secretary of state, none other than John Marshall himself, then had to sign the commissions for these “midnight justices”