US History

A negotiated treaty between the Monroe administration and England. This treaty came after the War of 1812 to settle disputes between Britain and U.S. It permitted Americans to share Newfoundland fisheries w/ the Canadians, and fixed the vague northern limits of Louisiana from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains. It also provided for a 10-year joint occupation of untamed Oregon country. Surprisingly, neither Britain or America had to surrender rights or claims for this to occur.

Fletcher v. Peck was a court case from 1810. The Georgia legislature, swayed by a bribe, gave 35 million acres of Mississippi land to private speculators. The next legislature cancelled the original ruling. Then the Supreme Court decided the grant was a contract and state law cannot impair contracts. This is one of the first court cases to illustrate the power of the Supreme Court to invalidate state laws conflicting with the federal Constitution. Their decision protected the peoples' rights against popular pressures.

This case involved New York trying to grant a monopoly on waterborne trade between New York and New Jersey. Judge Marshal, of the Supreme Court, sternly reminded the state of New York that the Constitution gives Congress alone the control of interstate commerce. Marshal's decision, in 1824, was a major blow on states' rights.

The Cohen's were a Virginia family accused of selling lottery tickets illegally. The Virginia Supreme Court found the Cohen's guilty, so they appealed to the Supreme Court in 1821. Virginia won in having the Cohen's convicted. Virginia lost in that Judge Marshal made it so that the federal Supreme Court had the right to review any decision involving powers of the federal government. This was a major blow on states' rights.

Trial during chief Justice John Marchalls reign; involving the state of Maryland& their right to tax the federal bank--sets precedent for the "loose clause"--increased power of Fed, government.