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Marbury's Travail: Federalist Politics And William Marbury's Appointment As Justice Of The Peace, David F. Forte

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

This Article describes how Marbury, the youngest son of an impoverished remnant of a well-known family, elbowed his way to wealth and influence among the Maryland gentry. Further, this Article illuminates Marbury's choice between the two wings of the Federalist party in Maryland - the Hamiltonian elite and the Adams' loyalists - and how Marbury's partisan service brought him to a position earning Thomas Jefferson's disdain and rebuff. In the end, Marbury's appointment and rejection derived from the very different characters of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.