John Marshall

Harlan, John Marshall, 1833-1911, American jurist, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1877-1911), b. Boyle co., Ky., grad. Centre College, 1850. Admitted to the bar in 1853, he served in the Civil War as a colonel in the Union army until 1863, when he became attorney general of Kentucky. He took a leading part in the violent political struggles of the day, becoming after the war a leader of the conservative Republicans; he was defeated for the governorship, however, in 1872 and 1875. As head of the Kentucky delegation to the Republican national convention in 1876, he played a leading role in the nomination of Rutherford B. Hayes. In Oct., 1877, Hayes appointed him to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A man of strong and independent convictions and, on the whole, a strict constructionist, Harlan became known as a dissenter. In the "insular cases" (1901) he protested against the decision that denied the residents of the new U.S. possessions the national benefits of the Constitution. He upheld the police power of the states, dissented in the civil-rights cases (1883) and the income-tax case (1894), and argued that the court had no right to read the word unreasonable into the Sherman Act in the decisions against the Standard Oil and American Tobacco trusts. A firm defender of civil liberties and civil rights, Justice Harlan dissented vigorously in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), in which the Supreme Court enunciated the "separate but equal" doctrine justifying segregation. In 1893, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him to the tribunal to settle the Bering Sea Fur-Seal Controversy (see under Bering Sea) at Paris.

Harlan, John Marshall, 1899-1971, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1955-71), b. Chicago; grandson of John Marshall Harlan. He received his law degree from New York Law School and was admitted to the bar in 1925; he practiced in New York City. He was an assistant U.S. attorney (1925-27), special assistant attorney general of New York state (1928-30), and chief counsel to the New York State Crime Commission (1951-53). Harlan was a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 2d Circuit, from 1954 to 1955, when he was appointed by President Eisenhower to replace Justice Robert H. Jackson on the Supreme Court. A conservative on the court, he held a narrow view of the court's power, believing that the Union judiciary should not interfere in state and local matters, and that political and social evils should be corrected through the political process and not through court action; he nevertheless sided with the majority on many civil-rights cases. Harlan retired from the court in late 1971, shortly before his death.

Marshall, John, 1755-1835, American jurist, 4th Chief Justice of the United States (1801-35), b. Virginia.

Early Life

The eldest of 15 children, John Marshall was born in a log cabin on the Virginia frontier (today in Fauquier co., Va.) and spent his childhood and youth in primitive surroundings. His father rose to prominence in local and state politics. Through his mother he was related to the Lees and the Randolphs and to Thomas Jefferson, later his great antagonist.

Marshall first left home for any length of time to serve as an officer in the American Revolution. He returned in 1779 after attending for a few months lectures on law given by George Wythe at the College of William and Mary (his only formal education). Admitted to the bar in 1780, he practiced law in the West and was elected (1782) a delegate to the Virginia assembly. He married and settled in Richmond, his home until his death.

Political Career

His brilliant skill in argument made him one of the most esteemed of the many great lawyers of Virginia. A defender of the new U.S. Constitution at the Virginia ratifying convention, Marshall later staunchly supported the Federalist administration, and after refusing Washington's offer to make him U.S. Attorney General or minister to France, he finally accepted appointment as one of the commissioners to France in the diplomatic dispute that ended in the XYZ Affair.

Marshall's effectiveness there made him a popular figure, and he was elected to Congress as a Federalist in 1799. One of the tiny group that continued to support President John Adams, he was prevailed upon to become Secretary of State (1800-1801). Before he left the cabinet he was appointed Chief Justice and confirmed by the Senate despite some opposition.

Great Chief Justice

In his long service on the bench, Marshall raised the Supreme Court from an anomalous position in the federal scheme to power and majesty, and he molded the Constitution by the breadth and wisdom of his interpretation; he eminently deserves the appellation the Great Chief Justice. He dominated the court equally by his personality and his ability, and his achievements were made in spite of strong disagreements with Jefferson and later Presidents.

A loyal Federalist, Marshall saw in the Constitution the instrument of national unity and federal power and the guarantee of the security of private property. He made incontrovertible the previously uncertain right of the Supreme Court to review federal and state laws and to pronounce final judgment on their constitutionality. He viewed the Constitution on the one hand as a precise document setting forth specific powers and on the other hand as a living instrument that should be broadly interpreted so as to give the federal government the means to act effectively within its limited sphere (see McCulloch v. Maryland).

His opinion in the Dartmouth College Case was the most famous of those that dealt with the constitutional requirement of the inviolability of contract, another favorite theme with Marshall. His interpretation of the interstate commerce clause of the Constitution, most notably in Gibbons v. Ogden, made it a powerful extension of federal power at the expense of the states. In general Marshall opposed states' rights doctrines, and there were many criticisms advanced against him and against the increasing prestige of the Supreme Court.

The sometimes undignified quarrel with Jefferson (which had one of its earliest expressions in Marbury v. Madison) reached a high point in the trial (1807) of Aaron Burr for treason. Marshall presided as circuit judge and interpreted the clause in the Constitution requiring proof of an "overt act" for conviction of treason so that Burr escaped conviction because he had engaged only in a conspiracy. Marshall's difficulties with President Jackson reached their peak when Marshall declared against Georgia in the matter of expelling the Cherokee, a decision that the state flouted.

Influence and Style

Marshall in his arguments drew much from his colleagues, especially his devoted adherent, Justice Joseph Story, and he was stimulated and inspired by the lawyers pleading before the court, among them some of the most brilliant legal minds America has seen, including Daniel Webster, Luther Martin, William Pinkney, William Wirt, and Jeremiah Mason. Marshall in his manners combined the unceremonious heartiness of the frontier with the leisurely grace of the Virginia aristocracy. So great was his winning charm and so absolute his integrity that he gained the admiration of his enemies and the unbounded affection of his friends.

His style combined conciseness and precision. He wrote each opinion as a series of logical deductions from self-evident propositions, and it was almost never his practice to cite legal authority. It is in these opinions that his literary skill is shown rather than in his major nonlegal work, The Life of George Washington (5 vol., 1804-7). Marshall's constitutional opinions are collected in editions by J. M. Dillon (1903) and J. P. Cotton (1905). An autobiographic sketch was published in 1937.

(born June 1, 1833, Boyle county, Ky., U.S.—died Oct. 14, 1911, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. In the 1850s he was a lawyer and county judge in Boyle county, Ky. From 1861 to 1863 he commanded a Union regiment in the American Civil War. He served as state attorney general (1863–67) and ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for governor in 1871 and 1875. In 1877 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States by Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes. During his tenure, which lasted to his death in 1911, he became one of the most forceful dissenters in the court's history and its outstanding liberal justice. His best-known dissenting opinions, such as those in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and the Civil Rights cases (1883), favoured the rights of blacks. He also issued famous dissents in favour of the federal income tax (1895) and opposing monopolies in cases arising under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. His grandson John Marshall Harlan (1899–1971) also served on the Supreme Court (1955–71).

Learn more about Harlan, John Marshall with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Sept. 24, 1755, near Germantown, Va.—died July 6, 1835, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) U.S. patriot, politician, and jurist. In 1775 he joined a regiment of minutemen and served as a lieutenant under Gen. George Washington in the American Revolution. After his discharge (1781), he served in the Virginia legislature and on Virginia's executive council (1782–95), gaining a reputation as a leading Federalist. He supported ratification of the U.S. Constitution at the state's ratifying convention. He was one of three commissioners sent to France in 1797–98 (see XYZ Affair); he later served as secretary of state (1800–01) under Pres. John Adams. In 1801 Adams named Marshall chief justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, a post he held until his death. He participated in more than 1,000 decisions, writing 519 himself. During his tenure, the Supreme Court set forth the main structure of the government; its groundbreaking decisions included Marbury v. Madison, which established judicial review; McCulloch v. Maryland, which affirmed the constitutional doctrine of “implied powers”; the Dartmouth College case, which protected businesses and corporations from much government regulation; and Gibbons v. Ogden, which established that states cannot interfere with Congress's right to regulate commerce. Marshall is remembered as the principal founder of the U.S. system of constitutional law.

Learn more about Marshall, John with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born June 1, 1833, Boyle county, Ky., U.S.—died Oct. 14, 1911, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. In the 1850s he was a lawyer and county judge in Boyle county, Ky. From 1861 to 1863 he commanded a Union regiment in the American Civil War. He served as state attorney general (1863–67) and ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for governor in 1871 and 1875. In 1877 he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States by Pres. Rutherford B. Hayes. During his tenure, which lasted to his death in 1911, he became one of the most forceful dissenters in the court's history and its outstanding liberal justice. His best-known dissenting opinions, such as those in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and the Civil Rights cases (1883), favoured the rights of blacks. He also issued famous dissents in favour of the federal income tax (1895) and opposing monopolies in cases arising under the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. His grandson John Marshall Harlan (1899–1971) also served on the Supreme Court (1955–71).

Learn more about Harlan, John Marshall with a free trial on Britannica.com.

John Marshall Stone (April 30, 1830 March 26, 1900) was an American politician from Mississippi who served longer as Governor of that state than anyone else, from 1876 to 1882 and again from 1890 to 1896.

Born in Tennessee, Stone was the son of Asher and Judith Stone, natives of Virginia. He did not attend college since his family was fairly poor, but he studied a great deal and eventually taught school. In 1855, he moved to Tishomingo County, Mississippi, and became a station agent at Iuka when the Memphis and Charleston Railroad opened.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Stone enlisted in the Confederate States Army that April. He commanded Company K of the Second Mississippi Infantry and saw action in Virginia. Stone, who had the rank of colonel, was placed in command of another regiment due to a reorganization in 1862. Colonel Stone was offered a promotion to major general, but he declined since it meant leaving his regiment. He and his unit were captured in early 1865 and held prisoner in Kentucky, Camp Chase, Ohio, and then finally Johnson's Island, Ohio.

At the end of the war, Stone returned to Tishomingo County and was elected mayor and treasurer. In 1869, he won a race to become state senator, winning re-election in 1873. Governor Adelbert Ames resigned in 1876, making Stone, the President Pro Tempore of the Mississippi Senate at that time, the acting governor. He won the Governor's office in his own right, as a Democrat, in the 1877 election, but was defeated for re-election by Robert Lowry in 1881. Stone became Governor again after winning the 1889 election and his term was extended through 1896 by the state constitution of 1890.

He married Mary G. Coman in 1872, and the couple had two natural children that died at a young age. However, they adopted three children of John's brother and raised them as their own.

In 1899, Stone accepted a position as the 2nd President of Mississippi A&M (now Mississippi State University) in Starkville, Mississippi. Stone died in Holly Springs, Mississippi, in 1900, at the age of 69.

Stone County, Mississippi, was named in his honor, posthumously in 1916.