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Jackson and the Supreme Court

In 1835 John Marshall died, ending a 34-year tenure as Chief Justice. President Andrew Jackson nominated his friend and Bank War supporter, Roger B. Taney, as Marshall’s successor. Taney manifested a true Jacksonian interpretation of the law in the case of Charles River Bridge v. Warren Bridge (1837), arguing that the first imperative was to expand economic opportunities for the population-at-large rather than be slavishly loyal to old contractual obligations.