John Marshall Analysis

In this in class movie presentation, we viewed a documentary of John Marshall and his power of making the supreme court the powerhouse that it is today. John Marshall is displayed through some of the big supreme court cases such as Marbury verse Madison, McCullough verse Maryland, and Dred Scott verse Stanford. Being the fourth chief justice of the United States, Marshall was known for establishing the courts right to exercise a judicial review. The film did a great job showing the court cases Marshall was involved with in which were encountered by using good information and images and vivid reenactments of those times to get a better understanding of the scene. During the case of Madison verse Marbury, the film showed right before Marshall
After viewing the film in class, it showed the power of John Marshall. He changed all that was known and stayed with the organization for over 30 years. The film showed Marshall as a powerful man who brought the court system together and created a brotherhood between the judges by living together and wearing all black to emphasize prestige as they are now the interpreters of the Constitution of the United States. Marshall used his power as the Supreme Court Chief Justice to make changes in the United States that he wanted, in which were conflicting with his second cousin, President Thomas Jefferson’s opinion. It was very interesting to learn how Marshall was selected as Chief Justice by John Adams so that Thomas Jefferson would not be able to have a pick for one when he becomes president. Ironically enough, it was Marshall who swore Jefferson in to become the new president. Marshall had taken upon many cases besides Marbury verse Madison in his time as the Chief Justice, in which the movie also portrayed such as Fletcher verse Peck, McCullough verse Maryland, and Dred Scott verse