Name:________________________

Marbury v. Madison Webquest

Directions: Use the websites below to answer the questions. Type your answers in complete sentences if
needed.

Use the website below to answer questions 1-7.

Go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOvsZyqRfCo

1) What did John Adams do before he left office?

2) What did the judges appointed by Adams need to receive before they could start their job?

3) Who did President Jefferson keep from delivering commission papers to the new judges?

4) Who was upset because he did not receive his commission to be a judge?

5) What did John Marshall rule the Supreme Court did not have the power to do?

6) What did John Marshall say was the supreme law of the land?

7) What is it called when the Supreme Court declares a law passed by Congress unconstitutional?

Go to: http://www.ushistory.org/us/20e.asp

8) What did John Adams do in the final months of his presidency?

9) How did Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans feel about Adams appointing so many
Federalists judges?

10) Who was Adams’ final and most influential judicial appointment? What position did he
appointed?

11) Which political party held a great deal of power even though they were defeated in the Election
of 1800?

12) Do you agree with John Adams’ actions in appointing hundreds of Federalists judges at the end
of his presidency? Explain your answer.

13) Did Chief Justice John Marshall believe that state legislatures or the national government had
the most power?

14) What is the name of the case that demonstrated John Marshall’s leadership of the Court?

15) What was the main issue at stake in the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison?

16) What did James Madison refuse to deliver to the new justices? What did they do in response?

17) Why did the Supreme Court refuse to take the legal action on behalf of the justices?
18) What did the Supreme Court limit in their ruling?

19) What was the fundamental issue that the court decided?

20) What did Marshall mean by the phrase “It is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial
department to say what the law is”?

21) Which branch of government has been the final decision maker regarding the Constitutionality
of Congressional legislation since Marbury v. Madison?

22) What principle did the Marbury v. Madison case establish?

23) How could the Marbury v. Madison ruling affect future laws passed by Congress?

24) How did the Marbury v. Madison ruling affect the power of each branch of government?