American Judiciary, Part 3: Last Bastion of the Federalists

The New Nation
Written By Tom Hand

Near the end of his single term in office, President John Adams signed into law the Judiciary Act of 1801 to enact much needed judicial reform but also to solidify the judiciary as a Federalist bastion against the seismic changes in government expected from Thomas Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans. Naturally, when Jefferson was sworn in as president and his Democratic-Republicans took over both houses of Congress, they moved quickly to reverse Adams’ judiciary measures. The Democratic-Republican’s repeal was a repudiation of the theory that the national judiciary should exercise supervisory power over the national legislature.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses how the federalists took control of the national judiciary, and why it still matters today. 

Images courtesy of National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, Wikimedia, Encyclopedia Virginia, National Gallery of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Library of Congress.

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