Supreme Court under Marshall and Taney

In preparing the long-awaited second edition of his well-liked text, Kent Newmyer consulted the best and most relevant of the recent scholarship on the antebellum Court, prompting him to revise important points in the story of the Court’s evolution.

Nevertheless, the revised edition of the text retains the basic format and the conceptual premise of the original: the unique contributions of the Marshall and Taney courts taken together laid the foundation for the modern institution. Understanding the Supreme Court during its formative period provides useful insights into its continued (and hotly debated) involvement in shaping American society. Seminal cases that came before the Court, such as Marbury v. Madison and Dred Scott v. Sanford are examined in detail.

Besides touting a thoroughly revised bibliographical essay, the second edition of The Supreme Court under Marshall and Taney includes an entirely new bank of illustrations and an index of important cases, making it perfect as supplementary reading for the U.S. history survey as well as courses in U.S. legal history and the history of the Early Republic.

R. Kent Newmyer is Distinguished Alumni Professor, Emeritus, at the University of Connecticut, and Professor of Law and History at the University of Connecticut School of Law, where he teaches courses in American constitutional and legal history. His teaching and research specialty is the legal and political history of the early republic. His judicial biography, Joseph Story: Statesman of the Old Republic (1985), received the Littleton-Griswold Award from the American Historical Association for the best book on law and society for 1985; a Certificate of Merit from the American Bar Association; and the Benchmark Book Award for 1985-86 in recognition of its contribution to legal history and the role of the judiciary. His most recent work, John Marshall and the Heroic Age of the Supreme Court (2001), received the Jules and Frances Landry Award from LSU Press and was the winner of the Fifth Annual Library of Virginia Award for the best nonfiction book for 2002.