Supreme Court, United States: Early Years to the Civil War
Early Years to the Civil War
The history of the Supreme Court reflects the development of the U.S. economy, the alteration of political views, and the evolution of the federal structure. In its earliest years, the court had little business to transact. Much of the justices' time was consumed in appearing on the federal courts of appeal in the judicial circuits assigned to them. This obligation of circuit riding was later to interfere seriously with the performance of the court's more important business. For the most part the full bench—sitting first in New York City, then in Philadelphia, finally in Washington—was a court of last resort in admiralty cases and in cases arising out of diversity of citizenship. The court somewhat later decided (in 1842 in
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- The Current Court
- The 1950s to the PresentThe 1950s and 1960s: Civil Liberties and Criminal Procedure
- The Roosevelt Years
- From the Civil War to the 1940s1937
- The Court under Taney
- The Court under Marshall
- Early Years to the Civil War
- Membership
- Functions
- Procedures
- Scope and Jurisdiction
- Bibliography
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