Courtmaker: John Marshall and the Forging of America’s
Supreme Court is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in
2025. It is about the life and career of the American lawyer John Marshall
(1755-1835).
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Director: Leo Eaton
** Writers: Leo Easton and Richard Brookhiser
** Presenter: Richard Brookhiser
** Based on the book John Marshall, the Man Who Made
the Supreme Court by Richard Brookhiser (2018)
** Run time: 117 minutes
Many historical and legal experts are interviewed in
this film. Here are the names of the participants. Listed in alphabetical
order:
** Bruce Ackerman – professor of law, Yale University,
CT
** Samuel Alito – Justice, the US Supreme Court
** Akhil Amar – professor of law, Yale University, CT
** Randy Barnett – professor of law, Georgetown
University
** James G. Basker – president, Gilder Lehrman
Institute of American History
** Jonathan Bryant – professor of history, Georgia
Southern University, GA
** Guido Calabresi – judge, Second US Circuit, Court
of Appeals
** Christine A. Desan – professor of law, Harvard
University, MA
** Paul Finkelman – legal historian, President, Gratz
College, PA
** Joanne B. Freeman – professor of history, Yale
University, CT
** Gerald Gaidmore – Director of special collections,
College of William & Mary, VA
** Robert P. George – professor of jurisprudence,
Princeton University, NJ
** Risa L. Goluboff – Dean, school of law, University
of Virginia
** Annette Gordon-Reed – professor of law and history,
Harvard University, MA
** Charles Gourd – executive director, Cherokee
Heritage Center, Tahlequah, OK
** Mark Greenough – historian, Virginia State Capitol
** Charles Hobson – historian, editor of John Marshall
papers
** Nancy Isenberg – professor of history, Louisiana
State University
** Elizabeth S. Kostelny – CEO Preservation Virginia
** Daniel A. Laliberte – captain, US Coast Guard
(retired)
** Allison Larsen – professor of law, College of
William & Mary, VA
** R. Kent Newmyer – professor of law and history,
University of Connecticut
** Donald E. Pease – Humanities Professor, Dartmouth
College, NH
** Randal K. Quarles – vice chair, Federal Reserve
Board of Governors
** Julie Reed – professor of law, Penn State
University, PA
** John Roberts – Chief Justice, the US Supreme Court
** Jeffrey Rosen – president and CEO, National
Constitution Center, Philadelphia, PA
** Andrew Shaw – James River Bateau Festival
** Kate Stith – professor of law, Yale University, CT
** Kevin Walsh – professor of law, University of
Richmond, VA
*****
The lawyer John Marshall was a member of the US Congress
1799-1800. He represented Virginia in the House of Representatives.
He was a member of the US government 1800-1801. He was Secretary of State, which is the American title for a minister of foreign
affairs.
He was a member of the Supreme Court. He was chief
justice for more than thirty years (1801-1835).
Less than one hundred American men have held
constitutional office in all three branches of the American political system.
John Marshall is a member of this exclusive club
*****
The lawyer John Marshall was a member of the Federalist Party. He wanted the US to have a relatively strong federal government to hold
the nation together.
His cousin the politician Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
was opposed to federalism. He wanted the US to have a relatively weak federal
government, because he supported states’ rights.
John Marshal and Thomas Jefferson did not like each other. They
were not good friends. The conflict between them was political and personal.
When John Marshall was chief justice and when Thomas Jefferson was
president, there was a serious conflict between the judicial and the executive
branches of the American political system.
*****
As chief justice of the US Supreme Court for more than
thirty years, Marshall was involved in numerous cases about many different
aspects of American society.
This film focuses on eight cases which are regarded as
the most important cases which were heard by the court while he was chief
justice. Here is the list:
** Marbury v. Madison (1803)
** The Treason Trial of Aaron Burr (1807)
** Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
** McCullogh v. Maryland (1819)
** Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
** The Antelope Case (1825)
** Cherokee Nation v. Georgia (1831)
** Worcester v. Georgia (1832)
The following case which took place after the death of
John Marshall is also mentioned and discussed:
** Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Many historians and legal scholars regard the ruling
in this case as the worst ruling in the history of the US Supreme Court
*****
While the focus of this film is on Marshall as a
lawyer and chief justice of the US Supreme Court, his private and personal life
is also covered.
In 1783, he married Mary Wallis Ambler (1766-1831),
whose nickname was Polly. John and Polly had ten children, but only six lived
long enough to become adults. Five sons and one daughter.
The children are not as famous as their father. Three
of the five sons became a politician:
** Thomas C. Marshall (1784-1835)
** James Keith Marshall (1800-1862)
** Edward Carrington Marshall (1805-1882)
*****
This film shows how and why the lawyer John Marshall
is regarded as an important person in the early history of the United States:
** He established what is known as judicial review
** He strengthened federal power
** He unified the court
** He defined the constitution
** He is still the longest-serving chief justice of the US
Supreme Court
Is he flawless? Did he always make the right decision?
The answer to these questions is no. He was talented. And he was often wise. But
not always right.
When I look at the eight cases which are covered in
this film, I have to say that the ruling in the Antelope Case of 1825 marks the low point
in his long career as chief justice, while the ruling in Worcester v. Georgia
of 1832 marks the high point in his long career as chief justice.
The Antelope Case is about slavery. In this case, he
failed to do what was right, not as a lawyer, but as a human being. He was a
slave-owner. He backed away.
Worcester v. Georgia is about the Native Americans,
more precisely the Cherokee Nation. In this case, he made the right choice. His
ruling supported the rights of the Cherokee Nation.
Sadly, his ruling was ignored by the president and by
the US Congress. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 had been signed by president
Andrew Jackson.
The act was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court, but
the court had no means to enforce it. The illegal act was implemented
1838-1839.
The enforcement of the illegal act - a dark chapter of
American history – is known as the Trail of Tears.
*****
What do reviewers say about this film? This question
is not easy to answer. The film is listed on Amazon, but there are no ratings,
no reviews. The film is listed on IMDb, but there is no rating.
Only one user review is posted on the website. The
headline says: “Well Done and Informative Early American History.” The rating
is 80 percent.
I agree with the user review posted on IMDb. This film
is well-done. The historical and legal experts who are interviewed are
well-chosen.
The topic is important. The story deserves to be told,
and in this film, it is done quite well. I think this product deserves a rating
of four stars (80 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Some general works
John Marshall: Definer of a Nation
By Jean Edward Smith
(1996 = hardcover)
(1998 = paperback)
John Marshall:
The Man Who Made the Supreme Court
By Richard Brookhiser
(2018)
Without Precedent:
Chief Justice Marshall and his Times
By Joel Richard Paul
(2018 = hardcover)
(2019 = paperback)
The Life of John Marshall:
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
By Albert J. Beveridge
(2022) (two volumes)
# 2. Some specific topics
My Dearest Polly: Letters of Chief Justice John
Marshall to His Wife, 1779-1831
Edited by Frances Norton Mason
(1961)
Trail of Tears:
The Rise and fall of the Cherokee Nation
By John Ehle
(1988)
Dark Places of the Earth:
The Voyage of the Slave Ship Antelope
By Jonathan Bryant
(2015)
*****
The American lawyer
John Marshall
(1755-1835)
Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
1801-1835
*****
Mary Willis Ambler
(her nickname was Polly)
(1866-1831)
Wife of John Marshall
1783-1831
*****
The American politician
Thomas Jefferson
(1743-1826)
President of the United States
1801-1809
*****
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