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Supreme Court Cases Shaping America Essay

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Words 2283
Pages 10
Madelyn Risbrough
Professor Howlett
History 16 Section 12080
3 August 2014
Supreme Court Cases Shaping America
I believe that the small decisions we make can determine an even larger outcome. I believe that power is in the hands of the people. I believe that the United States has been shaped solely by the actions people take. From 1790 to 1877 there have been many Supreme Court cases, but there are three that really stick out to me to have shaped the United States economy, social, and political aspects. The first court case that was very influential during this time period was Marbury v. Madison where the concept of Judicial Review and judging how much power congress has were established. This case mainly influenced the political aspect of the United States because it focused on power. McCulloch v. Madison is another case that influenced the US, especially in the area of economics. The case was about whether or not the National Bank should have overall control over other banks and how much control they had. The third and final case that I think is equally as …show more content…
There was a major economic panic going on at this time, known as the Panic of 1857. The Panic of 1857 was caused by a huge hurricane destroying a huge shipment of gold that US banks were expecting which then caused investors and stocks to plummet, people unable to pay debts, and people running to the banks in order to try and get their money. However, the South believed that the economy was still doing well because the price of cotton was still high along with other Southern Commodities. This made it extremely difficult for any change to be made because the Southern states believed that they were doing the right thing. Because of this huge debate over popular sovereignty the nation was very divided at the time over slavery should be legal or

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