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First Parties, Part II - Page 3

© John S. Cooper

Democratic-Republicans were ecstatic. Marbury had no recourse. Since Congress had given the power to issue writs of mandamus to the Supreme Court, they did not bother to give it to any lower courts. For the moment, no federal court had the power to make Madison deliver the commissions. The positions would be filled by Democratic-Republicans, a severe blow to the future of the Federalist Party. Democratic-Republicans, both politicians and editors, issued statements praising Marshall for doing the right things and hailing him for his patriotism in putting the law above his party loyalties.

Only Thomas Jefferson seemed to realize from the first that he had just lost a more important contest. Democratic-Republicans were now on record favoring the actions of the Supreme Court in declaring a federal action to be unconstitutional. The precedent had been established and they could not go back on their public statements. The principle of judicial review was now a part of the government. The issue of states' rights, however, remained unsettled. This unsettled issue would play a major part in the coming of the Civil War, as we will see in the next article.

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