Corruption of the Central Government
As the United States Chief Justice, John Marshall changed several governmental standards. These standards include the change in the judicial system and strengthening the central government. “As man whose political doctrines led always…to strengthen government at the expense of the people,” this quote states that Marshall’s goal was only to improve the federal government at the expense of the states. Marshall had served at Valley Forge and had been impressed with the drawbacks of no central authority, thus he became a lifelong Federalist, committed to strengthening the power of the federal government. His theory of putting the central government over the states is a corrupt and damaging idea that will lead to future events, such as Marbury v. Madison, McCulloch v. Maryland, Cohens v. Virginia, and Gibbons v. Ogden. The power of the federal government should be left in the hands of the states.
Marbury v. Madison (1803) case was the beginning of the corrupt theories of John Marshall. William Marbury had been a “midnight judge” appointed by John Adams in the last hours of being president. Marbury had been named Justice for Peace for the District of Columbia, but when Secretary of State James Madison shelved the position, he sued for its delivery. Chief Justice Marshall knew that his Jeffersonian rivals, deep-rooted in the executive branch, would not attempt to enforce a writ to deliver the commission to Federalist Marbury. He therefore dismissed Marbury’s suit. Despite the dismissal of the case, Marshall snatched a victory from this judicial defeat. In explaining his ruling, Marshall said that part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 on which Marshall tried to base his appeal was unconstitutional. This attempted to assign the Supreme Court power that the Constitution had not anticipated. This act by Marshall attempted the shift of power to the Supreme Courts for his benefit. This greatly magnified the authority of the court.
The...