Transcript Marbury vs. Madison (1803)

• Answer to the following questions in pen, in complete
sentences and on a separate sheet of paper:
• “You have been elected the new Mayor of Harrisonburg City.
Before leaving office, the old mayor gave jobs to several of
his political friends but the paperwork hasn’t made it to the
personnel office yet.
• A. Should you 1) honor the jobs promised by the old
mayor, or 2) cancel the jobs since they aren’t “officially”
in the system yet?
• B. What are the possible negatives to denying these
people their jobs? What are the possible positives to
allowing them to take these jobs?
• C. Would it make a difference if the prospective
employees had worked against you in the mayoral
elections?
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
1) Shortly before Jefferson was inaugurated as President,
outgoing President John Adams appointed his strongly
Federalist Secretary of State, John Marshall, to serve as
the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Marshall was
a strong federalist who believed in the empowerment of he
national government.
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
2) Along with the appointment of John Marshall, the
Federalist Congress passed the Judiciary Act of
1801 in order to expand the federal court system
and John Adams sought to pack it with Federalistminded judges. Adams even stayed late on his
last day in office to sign the commissions of what
became known as the “Midnight Judges.”
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
Jefferson
Madison
3) The signed commissions were left in the White
House to be delivered by the incoming Secretary
of State, James Madison. But Madison and
Jefferson chose to ignore the Federalist
commissions and decided to nominate their own
Democratic-Republican judges.
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
4) A midnight judge named William Marbury chose to sue
Madison for his nomination and the case ended up before
the Supreme Court under John Marshall. Marbury wanted
the Supreme Court to issue a judicial order (a writ) that
required Jefferson to grant Marbury’s commission as a
federal judge.
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
VS.
5) John Marshall believed that if he ruled in favor of
Marbury, the judicial order (writ) for Madison to
deliver Marbury’s commission would simply be
ignored. Marshall realized that he would have no
enforcement power to compel compliance and the
precedent would substantially weaken the
Supreme Court.
Roles
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Lower Court Judge
John Marshall
Thomas Jefferson
James Madison
William Marbury
Jury Members
Bailiff
Audience/Jury
Marbury
Madison
Marshall
Jefferson
Bailiff
Lower
Court
Judge
The
Stand
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
6) Marshall artfully dismissed the case by ruling that
the Supreme Court’s power to issue writs
conflicted with the powers given to the Supreme
Court under Article III of the Constitution.
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
7) By declaring the writing of
writs to be unconstitutional,
Marshall avoided a
showdown with Jefferson
and greatly strengthened the
Supreme Court by officially
establishing its power to
interpret the Constitution
Marshall created the Power
of “Judicial Review”
meaning the Supreme Court
would decide if laws are
constitutional.
Marbury vs. Madison (1803)
8) Marbury v. Madison effectively overturned the
premise of nullification that was previously
established by Jefferson in the Kentucky
Resolution. Jefferson had previously implied that
the individual states retained the power to
interpret the Constitution.
10 minute free write
• Do you agree with the decision that was
made by Marshall? Why or Why not?
Explain in complete sentences.
• In your own words describe how what
Marshall decided empowered the judicial
branch of government.
The Louisiana Purchase
1) A secret pact was signed in 1800 in which the
immense trans-Mississippi territory of Louisiana
under the control of Spain was ceded to the
French Empire under Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Louisiana Purchase
3) The peace-loving and isolationist Jefferson was in a
difficult situation. New Orleans could easily be taken from
the weak Spanish Empire, but in the grasp of Napoleon the
United States would be forced to fight a bloody war to
remove the French from the territory. Militarily necessity
alone would force the young United States to seek an
alliance with the British. Jefferson wrote, “The day that
France takes possession of New Orleans, we must marry
ourselves to the British fleet and nation.”
The Louisiana Purchase
4) In early 1803, Jefferson sent his protégé James
Monroe to Paris in order to join Robert R.
Livingston, the American minister in France. The
two were instructed to buy New Orleans and as
much land to its east for $10 million dollars. In the
event the proposals failed, they were instructed to
open negotiations with the British.
The Louisiana Purchase
5) For a variety of reasons
Napoleon decided to sell the
entire Louisiana Territory to
the United States for $15
million dollars.
The Louisiana Purchase
6) Monroe and Livingston were originally instructed to buy
the city of New Orleans and the surrounding territory to the
east. They now presented President Jefferson with New
Orleans and the vast territory between the Mississippi River
and the Rocky Mountains, more than doubling the size of
the existing nation. As fate would have it, news of the
purchase reached Washington D.C. on the Fourth of July,
1803.
The Louisiana Purchase
?
7) Jefferson was faced with an interesting
predicament because the Constitution did not
specifically give the President the power to
purchase new territories. However, the more
pragmatic side of Jefferson realized the
immensity of the opportunity and he suggested
that a constitutional amendment be passed in
order to make his transaction legal.
The Louisiana Purchase
10) Jefferson had masterfully ensured control of the
Mississippi River and New Orleans, doubled the
size of the country, and avoided a war with
France that would have required a costly alliance
with Great Britain. The lover of small government
had just used the power of his executive office to
more than double the size of his country.
Lewis and Clark
1) A few weeks after the Louisiana Territory
was purchased, Jefferson requested
Congress to allocate $2500, “to send
intelligent officers with ten or twelve men,
to explore [the Louisiana Territory] even to
the Western ocean.”
Lewis and Clark
2) Jefferson appointed his personal secretary,
Meriwether Lewis, to lead the expedition
that became known as the “Corps of
Discovery.” Lewis chose his former Army
officer, William Clark, as his partner in the
daunting journey.
Lewis and Clark
3) Lewis and Clark were instructed by Jefferson to travel up
the Missouri River to its headwaters and find a connecting
water route to the Pacific Ocean. During the expedition
they were to take plant and animal specimens, create
maps of the territory they traveled through, and to
maintain peaceful relations with the Indian nations that
they encountered.
Washington D.C., June 20, 1803
“To Meriwether Lewis Esquire, Captain of the
first regiment of Infantry of the United States
of America. The Object of your mission is to
explore the Missouri river & such principal
stream of it as by it's course and
communication with the waters of the Pacific
ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon,
Colorado or any other river may offer the
most direct & practicable water
communication across this continent for the
purpose of commerce.”
- Thomas Jefferson
Lewis and Clark
4) In the Spring of 1804, Lewis and Clark along with a group
of four dozen men on a series of boats crossed the
Mississippi River and began to move up the Great Missouri
River outside of St. Louis. By August, the expedition had
reached the edge of the Great Plains and the two explorers
were astonished by the radical change in environment.
The lack of trees; the abundance of buffalo, elk, antelope,
and prairie dogs; and the rolling hillsides left them in a
state of awe.
Lewis and Clark
5) Encounters with Native American tribes proved to
be mostly peaceful during the expedition. The two
often presented each other with gifts, but Lewis
and Clark were also instructed to address the
natives in full military dress and present them with
large silver medals that notified them that their
lands were now the property of the United States
government.
Lewis and Clark
6) By November 1804 they had struggled against the
current of the Missouri all the way to present-day
North Dakota. With the help of the local Mandan
Indians they established a winter encampment and
settled in for five long months with temperatures
reaching as low as 45 degrees below zero.
Lewis and Clark
Fort Mandan
Lewis and Clark
7) At camp Mandan,
Lewis and Clark hired
a French fur-trader
named Charbonneau
to serve as an
interpreter with the
local Native American
tribes. However, his
sixteen year old
Shoshone wife named
Sacagawea later
proved to be a much
greater asset to the
expedition than he
did.
Lewis and Clark
8) Aside from helping Lewis and Clark communicate
with Native Americans, Sacagawea also aided
navigation and helped to identify native species
of plants and animals.
Lewis and Clark
9) By aiding the negotiation, she was able to arrange
for the horses that would enable the expedition to
cross the Rocky Mountains. The mountain
crossing proved to be the most difficult part of the
journey because very little game could be found
and the expedition was reduced to eating rancid
meat and candles for nutritional value.
Lewis and Clark
10) In primitive canoes forged from tree trunks, they
descended out of the Rocky Mountains by the
Clearwater River, the Snake River, and the
Columbia River to reach the Pacific Ocean by
December 1805. They hastily constructed a
winter encampment named “Fort Clatsop” and
endured the incessant rains of the Oregon coast.
Lewis and Clark
Lewis and Clark
11) In March 1806 they began their return journey. With
the Missouri River going downstream they reached St.
Louis only six months later in September 1806. Lewis
and Clark had bravely blazed an overland trail to the
West coast that would later be followed by daring
pioneers, fur trappers, and zealous Christian
missionaries. The expedition also helped to establish
an American claim to the Oregon territory.