John Marshall's Elastic Clause

While the Spanish surrendered the trans-Mississippi region to the French in 1800, Jefferson decided to acquire more territory at once. He feared that French territory in the United States would bring British war on American soil. As a result, President Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert Livingston to Paris. Monroe's was given a maximum of ten million dollars to buy New Orleans and as much land east as possible. However, in opposition to Jefferson's wishes, Monroe purchased all of Louisiana for a hefty fifteen million dollars. Although the Democratic-Republicans were in favor of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson, still in shock of Monroe's settlement, questioned the constitutionality of the treaty. This purchase did not specifically empower the president or Congress to annex foreign territory. This event inevitably led to the Hartford Convention of 1815, in which contradicted Jefferson's purchase(Doc E).

Before the Marshall Court, the United States Supreme Court functioned much like the courts in England in which more than one judge offered his decision on the case at hand. Shortly after becoming Chief Justice, Marshall changed this English tradition so that only one opinion was delivered by one of the justices, most often the Chief Justice (Rehnquist 40). By changing this tradition John Marshall set the U.S. Supreme Court apart from the English Courts at the time and began to define our unique judicial system.

Even though Jefferson was very opposed to loose interpretation of the constitution and judicial expansion under John Marshal, he did discard his strict principles from time to time when it became necessary. “Self-preservation—the first law of nature and nations—took precedence over the constitutional limitations that he scrupulously observed in peacetime.” This is especially true in the case of the Louisiana Purchase. Americans were expanding westward and needed a port for transport on the Mississippi, so Spain allowed them to use New Orleans. In 1801 Louisiana was ceded to France by Spain. France was not as cooperative as Spain and closed the port of New Orleans to the U.S. Therefore, a sudden disruption in trade was a legitimate cause for tension between the U.S. and France, and many people believed that a war would break out if the Americans did not buy New Orleans. Thomas Jefferson himself thought troubles were

In Marbury v. Madison, he led the Court in striking down an act of Congress that was in conflict with the Constitution, legitimizing the doctrine of judicial review. Over the course of his thirty-four year term, Marshall oversaw numerous landmark cases, his decisions in which played an undeniably critical role in the early development of American law. Thanks to his firm hand and consistent principles, he was able to secure the institutional power of the Supreme Court in the face of staunch Jeffersonian opposition—affirming its place as an equal among the Executive and Legislative branches of government.

In the early years of the eighteenth Century, the young United States of America were slowly adapting to the union and the way the country was governed. And just like the country, the governmental powers were starting to develop. Since the creation of the Constitution and due to the Connecticut Compromise, there is the Executive, the Legislative and the Judicial Power. But the existence of those powers was not always that naturally. In these crucial times, the Judicial Power had problems controlling the other powers. It was a challenge for the Supreme Court to exercise the powers granted by the new Constitution. Federal Government was not generally appreciated and

In Marbury v. Madison in 1803, Marshall overturned an act of congress for the first time that conflicted with the constitution. It was a daring step for a politically vulnerable court and Marshall crafted the opinion in such a way that Thomas Jefferson could not reject it. John Marshall had strong views that made him dominate the court from 1801 to 1835 and personally responsible for evaluating it in person of real authority. Marshall, also shared his power with other follow Justices that often curved his opinions in order to arrive at consensus decisions. Marshall established a model that all future Chief Justices would be measured to. The United States Supreme Court used the Necessary and Proper Clause in the McCulloch v. Maryland case. McCulloch v. Maryland case debated that if congress have the power to charter a bank. In 1791, the first charted bank; the First Bank of the United States was created, but the

President Jefferson’s major personal moral dilemma was actually purchasing the territory of louisiana from the french. Jefferson was a strong Democratic-Republican. This party was founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, This party was created in opposition of the federalist party which was led by Alexander Hamilton. The Democratic-Republican party believed that a strong central national government would deplete and completely rid the rights of states. The party strongly disapproved of the national Bank Of The United States stating that the bank was taking away power that belonged to the states. Among many of the views of the Democratic-Republican the strongest belief was to strictly abided by the constitution, so when the opportunity arose to purchase the French owned territory, the constitution did not state whether the government could or could not acquire any new land

Increasing the power of the national government as well as the judicial branch made John Marshall a prominent figure of the

     “John Marshall was the fourth chief justice of the United States, he was known as Great Chief Justice. He established the modern status of the Supreme Court.

The Louisiana Purchase was one of the most important parts of the United States’ Westward Expansion because it nearly doubled the size of the country. Before the purchase, Napoleon was looking to rebuild an empire in North America but a slave revolt in Saint Domingue led by Toussaint LOuverture in Saint Domingue left Napoleon deciding on whether to suppress the rebellion or establish an empire in the Americas. Napoleon ended up trying to control Saint Domingue because he thought it would be too difficult to control Louisiana with American territory blocking the way, and he rendered it useless and sold it to the United States. With the Louisiana Purchase came some controversy as the Federalists thought it was against the Constitution to acquire any territory, but Jefferson responded by saying he had the power to make treaties, and he believed he did just that. As the United States acquired Louisiana, they had an opportunity to gain more land and got closer to countries like Mexico and increased their border length with Canada.

John Marshall, who had almost no formal schooling and studied law for only six weeks, nevertheless remains the only judge in American history whose distinction as a statesman derived almost entirely from his judicial career. John Marshall became the fourth chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1801. He is largely responsible for establishing the Supreme Court's role in federal government. Under Marshall, the Supreme Court adopted the practice of handing down a single opinion of the Court, allowing it to present a clear rule. John Marshall’s principles established legal precedents and formed the cornerstone of the government and altered the economy for the better.

The Marshall court had a significant impact on the federal government. As a result of several decisions, the power of the fed

The Louisiana Purchase is the biggest exchange of land in history. Jefferson’s acquisition of this big piece of land doubled the United States’ size for 15 million dollars. The Louisiana Purchase would have not happen without Napoléon’s loss of interest in the french american empire. At the time, Thomas Jefferson was in office,the president’s political beliefs opposed this to happen, what convinced him? As the United States started to expand, gaining alliance with the most powerful forces on the planet, business and influence started to flourish. New Orleans became the most diverse place in the country both socially and politically.

"John Marshall was the fourth chief justice of the United States, he was known as Great Chief Justice. He established the modern status of the Supreme Court. He

After Jefferson bought Louisiana from Napoleon for fifteen million dollars, the United States was in the position of domination. The United States was slowly beginning to not only grow geographically but politically as well. However, there is an important question to be asked, Why would Napoleon give up so much for so little? As the Documentary, How the States Got Their Shapes “The answer: Haiti. When the slaves in Haiti overthrew France that, basically, took France out of the game in North America. Haiti is the crown jewel of the French Empire. It 's where all the sugar comes from. It 's where all the money comes from. The only reason you need New Orleans and all that land to the west is to provide food for Haiti.” Therefore, since Haiti no longer belonged to France, France was out of the competition. It is important to pinpoint that before the United States (the 50 states) America shared land with the Spaniard, English, and Native Americans. Thus, the Haitian Revolution gave the United States more land, and power to conquer land. Through the Haitian revolution United States was closer to be “destined to secure territory from "sea to sea," from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean” as the political cartoon American Progress, from John Gust illustrates.