Samuel chase biography

Founding Father of the United States (–)

For other uses, see Samuel Chase (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Salmon P. Chase.

Samuel Chase (April 17, – June 19, ) was a Founding Father of the United States, signer of the Continental Association and United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland, and Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. In , Chase was impeached by the House of Representatives on grounds of letting his partisan leanings affect his court decisions, but was acquitted the following year by the Senate and remained in office. He is the only United States Supreme Court Justice to have ever been impeached.

Born near Princess Anne, Maryland, Chase established a legal practice in Annapolis, Maryland. He served in the Maryland General Assembly for several years and favored independence during the American Revolution. He won election to the Continental Congress before serving on the Baltimore District Criminal Court and the Maryland General Court. In , President George Washington appointed Chase to the United States Supreme Court.

After the elections, President Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans sought to weaken Federalist influence on the federal courts. Chase's actions on the court had been accused of demonstrating bias, and Jefferson believ

Duke University
Rare Book, Manuscript and Special Collections Library

Durham, NC

Papers, 16 es letters, bills, and legal papers of Samuel Chase and his son, Samuel Chase, Jr.

Connecticut Historical Society

Hartford, CT

Papers, 1 page.A letter from Samuel Chase to Roger Griswold written on November 8, In the letter, Samuel Chase encloses a statement of what he hopes to discuss confidentially with Roger Griswold about the articles of impeachment against Samuel Chase. The statement referred to was not transcribed, probably because of Samuel Chase's request that it be committed to the flames.

Copley Press, Inc.
J. S. Copley Library

La Jolla, CA

Papers, 1 page.A letter from Samuel Chase to Stephen West written on October 16, In the letter, Samuel Chase writes that he wishes that Stephen West was in the House of Delegates.

Papers, 1 page.A letter from Samuel Chase to Samuel Meredith written on April 21, This document indicates payment of Samuel Chase's monthly salary to Samuel Sterett.

Papers, 2 pages.A letter from Samuel Chase to an unidentified recipient written on December 4, In the letter, Samuel Chase writes "A free press is the support of libertybut a licentious press will do more to destroy real liberty than any other instrument."

Library of Congress
Manuscript Division

Washington, DC

Papers: , 4 of Samuel Chase,

Maryland Historical Society Library

Baltimore, MD

Papers:ca. , 1 volume.A charge book containing instructions to grand juries of the U.S. Third Circuit delivered by Samuel Chase as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The charges reflect Samuel Chase's highly political viewpoints on federalism, representative government, separation of powers, civil liberties, and the rule of law.

The Morgan Library
Department of Literary and Historical Manuscripts

New York, NY

Papers:In the Luther Martin Papers, ca. , 1 item.A letter from Luther Martin to Samuel Chase. In the letter, Luther Martin writes tha

Justice Samuel Chase joined the U.S. Supreme Court on February 4, , replacing Justice John Blair. Chase was born on April 17, in Somerset County, Maryland. He studied law in Annapolis and was admitted to the Maryland bar in Three years later, Chase joined the Maryland General Assembly, where he would serve for the next two decades. From to , he was a member of the Continental Congress. Chase signed the Declaration of Independence in

Chase served as a judge in the Maryland court system from to , first in the Baltimore criminal court and then in the General Court of Maryland. On January 26, , President George Washington nominated Chase to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate confirmed him on January 27, and he took the judicial oath about a week later. His most memorable opinion probably came in Calder v. Bull, which discussed the constitutional prohibition on ex post facto (retroactively applicable) laws and found that the Supreme Court could not strike down a state law for violating the constitution of that state.

Chase remains the only Supreme Court Justice to be impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. A committed Federalist who made no secret of his views, he incited the ire of President Thomas Jefferson and his fellow Republicans (Anti-Federalists) in Congress. The House of Representatives voted to impeach Chase on March 12, , which sent the proceeding to the Senate. Although the chamber consisted of 25 Republicans and only nine Federalists, the Senate acquitted Chase on March 1, While a majority of Senators voted to convict him on three of the eight articles of impeachment, no article received the two-thirds majority needed to remove him.

After the impeachment efforts failed, Chase lived out the rest of his years on the nation’s highest tribunal. He died on June 19, in Baltimore and was buried there. Justice Gabriel Duvall replaced him on the Court.

On November 30, , for the third time in its brief history, the Senate began preparations for an impeachment trial. In and , the Senate had tried a senator previously expelled on grounds of treason. The Senate dismissed the case, citing lack of jurisdiction. The second impeachment trial, in , removed a federal judge for reasons of drunkenness and insanity. More than the first two proceedings, however, this third trial challenged the Senate to explore the meaning of impeachable crimes.

Samuel Chase had served on the Supreme Court since A staunch Federalist with a volcanic personality, Chase showed no willingness to tone down his bitter partisan rhetoric after Jeffersonian Republicans gained control of Congress in Representative John Randolph of Virginia, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson, orchestrated impeachment proceedings against Chase, declaring he would wipe the floor with the obnoxious justice. The House voted to impeach Chase on March 12, , accusing Chase of  refusing to dismiss biased jurors and of excluding or limiting defense witnesses in two politically sensitive cases. The trial managers (members of the House of Representatives) hoped to prove that Chase had "behaved in an arbitrary, oppressive, and unjust way by announcing his legal interpretation on the law of treason before defense counsel had been heard." Highlighting the political nature of this case, the final article of impeachment accused the justice of continually promoting his political agenda on the bench, thereby "tending to prostitute the high judicial character with which he was invested, to the low purpose of an electioneering partizan."

On November 30, , the Senate appointed a committee to "prepare and report proper rules of proceedings" for the impeachment trial. When they took up the case against the Federalist justice in January , the Senate consisted of 25 Jeffersonian Republicans and nine Federalists. Chase appeared before the members on January 4, , to answer the c