FREE ESSAY ON JOHN MARSHALL

JOHN MARSHALL

John Marshall
In early American history, the powers of the executive and legislative branches of the
government were already well defined. However, the judicial branch needed to establish
its position as an equal of the other two branches. John Marshall was crucial in making
this happen. His many controversial decisions helped to shape the government of today. 
When Marshall was called "a stumbling block and impediment in the way of democratic
principles" the writer was reacting to the decisions that Marshall made while Chief
Justice that he obviously didn't agree with. The Supreme Court under John Marshall made
many contentious decisions that were unpopular with many Republicans and people from the
South and West. Marshall was an advocate of a strong national government; most of his
decisions favored this. In Fletcher v. Peck, one of Marshall's first decisions, the
Supreme Court defined their ability to define a state law unconstitutional.
Marshall's most important case, Gibbons v. Ogden, Marshall set travel as a type of
interstate commerce; this allowed The Court to permit Thomas Gibbons to compete with
Aaron Ogden for passage of the Hudson River. This made the state granted monopoly there
void.
In a case that allowed for the development of the American economy Marshall established
the constitutionality of the Bank of the United States. The Supreme Court answered two
questions in that ruling. They said that Congress did have the right to charter a bank,
and that states did not have to ability to tax them.
Marshall was a strong leader of the Supreme Court. His leadership brought belated
prosperity to the United States. His many crucial decisions paved the way for the advance
of the American economy, at the price of the power of the state governments.