“From Marbury v. Madison to Roe v. Wade . . . each essay provides a concise, lively, clearly explained account of the actual people and events involved in the litigation and a cogent summary of the thinking that went into the court’s decision.” Christian Science Monitor Leading American historians describe landmark Supreme Court cases that have altered the U.S. Constitution Quarrels That Have Shaped the Constitution is a classic collection of essays on groundbreaking decisions passed down from the nation's highest court that have had profound and irrevocable impact on the ultimate laws of the land. From the Dred Scott case to Roe v. Wade , from the court of Chief Justice John Marshall to the justices of the modern era—here are fascinating, surprising, often inspiring stories of personal conflicts and the resolutions that influence the lives we live today. More than simply focusing on the significance of the decisions themselves, these essays introduce a remarkable cast of characters from every social strata—smugglers and slaves, bankers and butchers, rebels, servants, laborers, and tycoons—each of whom now has an indelible place in American history. Leading American historians describe landmark Supreme Court cases that have altered the U.S. Constitution Quarrels That Have Shaped the Constitution is a classic collection of essays on groundbreaking decisions passed down from the nation's highest court that have had profound and irrevocable impact on the ultimate laws of the land. From the Dred Scott case to Roe v. Wade , from the court of Chief Justice John Marshall to the justices of the modern era—here are fascinating, surprising, often inspiring stories of personal conflicts and the resolutions that influence the lives we live today. More than simply focusing on the significance of the decisions themselves, these essays introduce a remarkable cast of characters from every social strata—smugglers and slaves, bankers and butchers, rebels, servants, laborers, and tycoons—each of whom now has an indelible place in American history. The Case of the Missing Commissions BY JOHN A. GARRATY (Marbury v. Madison, 1 Cranch 137) Paradoxically, the first of our controversies and in some respects the most important rose from by far the least significant of causes and the meanest of motives. It is a tale of narrow partisanship, clashing ambitions, and a man seeking the humble office of justice of the peace for the District of Columbia. It was the evening of March 3, 1801, his last day in office, and President John Adams was in a black and bitter mood. Assailed by his enemies, betrayed by some of his most trusted friends, he and his Federalist party had gone down to defeat the previous November before the forces of Thomas Jefferson. His world seemed to have crumbled about his doughty shoulders. Conservatives of Adams's persuasion were convinced that Thomas Jefferson was a dangerous radical. He would, they thought, in the name of individual liberty and states' rights import the worst excesses of the French Revolution, undermine the very foundations of American society, and bring the proud edifice of the national government, so laboriously erected under Washington and Adams, tumbling to the ground. Jefferson was a "visionary," Chief Justice Oliver Ellsworth had said. With him as President, "there would be no national energy." Secretary of State John Marshall, an ardent believer in a powerful central government, feared that Jefferson would "sap the fundamental principles of government." Others went so far as to call Jefferson a "howling atheist." Adams himself was not quite so disturbed as some, but he was deeply troubled. "What course is it we steer?" he had written to an old friend after the election. "To what harbor are we bound?" Now on the morrow Jefferson was to be inaugurated, and Adams was so disgruntled that he was unwilling to remain for the ceremonies, the first to be held in the new capital on the Potomac. At the moment, however, John Adams was still President of the United States, and not about to abandon what he called "all virtuous exertion" in the pursuit of his duty. Sitting at his desk in the damp, drafty, still unfinished sandstone "palace" soon to be known as the White House, he was writing his name on official papers in his large, quavering hand. The documents he was signing were mostly commissions appointing various staunch Federalists to positions in the national judiciary, but the President did not consider his actions routine. On the contrary: he believed he was saving the Republic itself. Jefferson was to be President and his Democratic Republicans would control Congress, but the courts, thank goodness, would be beyond his control. As soon as the extent of Jefferson's triumph was known, Adams had determined to make the judiciary a stronghold of Federalism. Responding enthusiastically to his request, the lame-duck Congress had established sixteen new circuit judgeships (and a host of marshal