Seriatim: The Supreme Court Before John Marshall

Scott Douglas Gerber

NYU Press, 1998 - Law - 362 pages

Seldom has American law seen a more towering figure than Chief Justice John Marshall. Indeed, Marshall is almost universally regarded as the "father of the Supreme Court" and "the jurist who started it all."
Yet even while acknowledging the indelible stamp Marshall put on the Supreme Court, it is possible--in fact necessary--to examine the pre-Marshall Court, and its justices, to gain a true understanding of the origins of American constitutionalism. The ten essays in this tightly edited volume were especially commissioned for the book, each by the leading authority on his or her particular subject. They examine such influential justices as John Jay, John Rutledge, William Cushing, James Wilson, John Blair, James Iredell, William Paterson, Samuel Chase, Oliver Ellsworth, and Bushrod Washington. The result is a fascinating window onto the origins of the most powerful court in the world, and on American constitutionalism itself.

Contents

• The Supreme Court before John Marshall: 1
• John Jays Republican Politics and Statesmanship on the Federal Bench: 26
• Distinction and Declension: 70
• Chapter 4 Deconstructing William Cushing: 97
• Democratic Theorist and Supreme Court Justice: 126
• A Safe and Conscientious Judge: 155
• Revolutionist Constitutionalist Jurist: 198
• Small States Nationalist: 231
• Chapter 9 The Verdict on Samuel Chase and His Apologist: 260
• I have sought the felicity and glory of your Administration: 292
• Bushrod Washington and Federal Justice in the Early Republic: 322
• Editors Note: 351
• Contributors: 353
• Index: 355
• About the Editor: 362

About the author

Scott Douglas Gerber, Ph.D., J.D., is author of To Secure These Rights: The Declaration of Independence and Constitutional Interpretation and editor of Seriatim: The Supreme Court before John Marshall, both available from New York University Press. He teaches at Ohio Northern University College of Law.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Seriatim: The Supreme Court Before John Marshall
• Editor: Scott Douglas Gerber
• Publisher: NYU Press, 1998
• ISBN: 0814731147, 9780814731147
• Length: 362 pages
• Subjects: Law / Civil Law; Law / Constitutional; Law / Courts; Law / General; Law / Jurisprudence; Law / Legal History; Political Science / American Government / Judicial Branch