A year later, Marshall was appointed Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Marshall, he held this office until he died. (Hillard 7).
In 1801, the Supreme Court had major issues such as low public esteem, low wages, poor morals, and no sense of identity. The chief justice is the most important judicial figure in U.S. history. The court had been regarded as ineffectual before the appointment of a chief justice. Through Marshall's wisdom, the court raised to a position of great power in the federal government. Marshall succeeded in making the court the ultimate authority in constitutional matters. (Eshleman 2).
In 1803, Marbury versus Madison, Marshall established the right of judicial review. "The decision upheld the Court's power to review legislation and to overrule acts of Congress and of state legislatures that it considered unconstitutional." The judicial review was important to Marshall's interpretation of the constitution. It is the power of the judiciary to supervise the legislative and executive branches, one of the checks and balances in the separation of powers. Marshall and the Court made federal laws exercised under a unified judicial system. In the 1810 Fletcher versus Peck, the court ruled a state could not arbitrarily interfere with an individual's rights. The most famous case before the Court during that time was McCulloch versus Maryland in 1819. The case established principles stating that the constitution granted certain implied powers into congress. Cohens versus Virginia 1823, the court upheld its right to overrule state action if violated the Constitution. In 1824, Gibbons versus Ogden, congressional control over foreign commerce was confirmed. These cases consisted of a body of judicial rulings that favors federal power of state's rights. (Brinkley 190).
Decisions concerning the legal status of Indian Tribes were .
Nationalist inclinations of the Marshall court were visible, as well as decisions concerning legal statuses of Indian Tribes.
