thereby infringing the exclusive right, granted by the legislature of
New York, to Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton to navigate the
waters of the state with vessels moved by steam. The Supreme Court
reversed the state courts and held the New York legislation void as an
interference with the right of Congress, under the Constitution, to
regulate interstate commerce.

[Footnote 1: 9 Wheat., 1 (1824).]

These were only a few of that series of great decisions which stand out
like mountain peaks on the horizon of our national life. Marshall's
judgments transformed a governmental experiment into something assured
and permanent. They confirmed the national supremacy and made the
Constitution workable.

Marshall is known to history for his work in vindicating the national
power under the Constitution. That was the need in his day and he met it
with superlative wisdom and skill. It would be a mistake, however, to
suppose that he favored federal encroachment upon the powers reserved to
the states. On the contrary, he rendered decisions in favor of state
rights which would be notable were they not overshadowed by the greater
fame of the decisions which went to the building of the nation.

With the passing of Marshall and the accession of Taney as Chief Justice
a new chapter opened in the history of the Court. The Federalists had
become extinct. Andrew Jackson had come into power and it had fallen to
his lot to fill a majority of the seats upon the bench by appointments
to vacancies. The result was at once apparent. Two cases[1] involving
important constitutional questions, which had been argued during
Marshall's lifetime but assigned for reargument on account of a division