1783-1815: Law and Justice: Chronology

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF 1783-1815

IMPORTANT EVENTS OF 1783-1815

1783

• The Treaty of Paris is signed and establishes the legitimacy of Loyalist land claims.
• The Commonwealth of Massachusetts forbids slavery.

1784

• Tapping Reeve opens the first proprietary law school in Litchfield, Connecticut.

1785

• The state of New York outlaws slavery.

1786

• Pennsylvania experiments with penal reform through the “wheelbarrow law,” a statute that requires convicts to labor on public works projects.
• New Jersey outlaws slavery.

1787

• Benjamin Rush writes An Enquiry into the Effects of Public Punishments Upon Criminals, and Upon Society, a treatise against capital punishment.
• 25 Jan. Gen. William Shepherd routs insurgents under Daniel Shays at Springfield, Massachusetts.

1788

• 21 June New Hampshire becomes the ninth state to ratify the Constitution. With this ratification the Constitution becomes effective.

1789

• 24 Sept. Congress passes the Judiciary Act.
• 26 Sept. Congress confirms President George Washington’s appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court.

1790

• 1 Feb. The first meeting of the U.S. Supreme Court occurs in New York City.
• 15 Dec. James Wilson begins his law lectures at the College of Philadelphia.

1791

• Congress passes an excise or internal tax on whiskey.

1792

• In Moore v. Cherry the South Carolina Supreme Court affirms the power of a judge to instruct a jury on the law.

1793

• A decision is rendered in Chisholm v. Georgia, allowing a state to be sued by a citizen of another state.
• The College of William and Mary graduates America’s first law-degree candidate.

1794

• The Whiskey Rebellion erupts in western Pennsylvania.

1795

• 1 July John Rutledge is nominated Chief Justice of the Supreme Court after John Jay resigns from the post.
• 15 Dec. The Senate rejects Rutledge’s nomination as Chief Justice.

1796

• In Ware v. Hylton the Supreme Court declares that federal treaties supersede state laws.
• John Adams is elected President of the United States.
• 4 Mar. Oliver Ellsworth is confirmed as Chief Justice.

1797

• 18 Oct. Three agents of French Foreign Minister Charles Maurice de Talleyrand demand a bribe from American envoys Elbridge Gerry, John Marshall, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

1798

• The Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, overturning Chisholm v. Georgia.
• 18 June Congress enacts the Naturalization Act.
• 25 June Congress passes the Alien Act.
• 14 July The Sedition Act is ratified.
• 21 Aug. U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice James Wilson dies.
• 20 Dec. Bushrod Washington, nephew of George Washington, is confirmed as Associate Justice.

1799

• Fries Rebellion occurs in eastern Pennsylvania.

1800

• Thomas Jefferson is elected President of the United States.
• Following a second trial, John Fries is again found guilty of treason and sentenced to death.
• Oliver Ellsworth resigns as chief justice.
• St. George Tucker succeeds George Wythe as professor of law at the College of William and Mary.
• 23 May John Fries is pardoned by President John Adams.
• 25 June The Alien Act expires.

1801

• John Jay refuses reappointment as U.S. Supreme Court chief justice.
• 4 Feb. John Marshall is sworn in as chief justice.
• 13 Feb. Congress enacts a new Judiciary Act.
• 3 Mar. The Sedition Act expires.

1802

• Congress repeals the Naturalization Act.
• Congress repeals the Judiciary Act of 1801.

1803

• The Supreme Court decision Marbury v. Madison establishes the doctrine of judicial review.
• St. George Tucker publishes his edition of Sir William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-1769).
• Mar. Federal District Court Judge John Pickering of New Hampshire is impeached by the House of Representatives.

1804

• Judge John Pickering is convicted by the Senate.
• Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Chase is impeached by the House of Representatives.
• 24 Mar. Thomas Jefferson’s first appointment to the Supreme Court, William Johnson, is confirmed.

1805

• 4 Feb. Justice Samuel Chase’s trial begins in the Senate.
• 1 Mar. Chase is acquitted of all charges.

1806

• 8 June George Wythe dies.
• 14 Dec. Thomas Jefferson’s second appointment to the Supreme Court, Henry Brockhoist Livingston, is confirmed as associate justice.

1807

• Congress enacts the Embargo Act.
• 3 Aug. Aaron Burr goes on trial for treason.
• 1 Sept. Burr is found not guilty by a circuit court in Richmond, Virginia, on the grounds that he was not present when an overt act of treason was committed.

1808

• Supreme Court Justice William Johnson defies President Thomas Jefferson and refuses to enforce the Embargo Act.

1809

• In the United States v. Peters the Supreme Court declares that a state legislature cannot reverse a federal court decree.

1810

• The Supreme Court renders an opinion in Fletcher v. Peck, declaring that a state legislature cannot abrogate a contract.

1811

• Justice Samuel Chase dies.
• 18 Nov. Joseph Story and Gabriel Duvall are confirmed as associate justices.

1812

• In the United States v. Hudson & Goodwin the Supreme Court holds that no federal court could exercise common law jurisdiction in criminal cases.

1813

• The “American Blackstone” St. George Tucker is nominated to the circuit court in Virginia.

1814

• 24 Aug. British troops capture Washington, D.C., and burn most of the public buildings. The Supreme Court chamber, located in a first-floor room in the Capitol, is gutted, and whatever furniture, books, and records remain are vandalized.

1815

• Feb. Temporary quarters for the Supreme Court are established in the Pennsylvania Avenue home of Elias Caldwell, the court clerk.