Funding and assumption, as well as establishing the Bank of the United States, were not the only issues that split citizens between Hamilton’s Federalists and Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans. At Jefferson’s election to the presidency in 1800, no institution of the national government was more detested by the Republicans than the judiciary (Links to an external site.). During the 1790s, the Federalists had tried to strengthen the federal court as a way of extending the power of the federal government, most notably by the fact that during this time there was not a single Democratic-Republican judge in the entire national judiciary.
John Adams, the second president and John Marshall, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Before he surrendered the Presidency to Jefferson, President Adams had hastily appointed a number of judges to the bench, including John Marshall as Chief Justice. Democratic-Republicans in Congress then attempted to strike back by impeaching an alcoholic and insane judge, John Pickering of New Hampshire. The Republicans overdid it, however, when they tried to oust Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase, considered the most overbearing Federalist judge. The Democratic-Republicans could not muster the two-thirds votes necessary to impeach Chase. This hurt the Democratic-Republicans’ cause.
Meanwhile, John Marshall began building the strength of the Supreme Court and establishing its vital and necessary place in the troika (Links to an external site.) of American government. In one important legal case, Marbury vs. Madison, the court ruled unconstitutional a 1798 federal law that would have allowed Congress to force Secretary of State James Madison to confirm the appointment of William Marbury, one of the men appointed to the court in the last hours of Adams’ presidency. Marshall’s decision in this case defined the critical concept of judicial review, which holds that the Supreme Court is the final interpreter (Links to an external site.) of whether acts of Congress are constitutional.