Thursday, March 24, 2016

Daniel Webster – The Man Who Contributed to the Development of Constitutional Law

Daniel Webster – The Man Who Contributed to the Development of Constitutional Law


Image by Tom Bridge via Flickr

Daniel Webster was a prominent personality in the history of United States and he immensely contributed to its political development. Daniel Webster was a well known lawyer and he was well known for successfully combining his legal and political career. His legal career took a high when he moved with his family to Boston which also was the base for his political growth over the years. Having served under well known and topnotch lawyer Christopher Gore, who was quite popular in the political circuit, he came in constant touch with politicians and prominent personalities.

Legal career

He was known to represent leading businessmen and powerful people in his legal career and he was also the most highly paid attorney of his time. It is a well known fact that Daniel Webster was a much sought after orator and his power packed speeches provided him the ticket to politics. He is known to have contributed phenomenally to the development of constitution law. With his exceptional arguments, he influenced the judges of his time and through them he influences the whole of constitutional law itself.  He had a strong command over the laws, rules and regulations.

Landmark cases

Being a staunch federalist, he presented federalist views and ideas and inculcated the principle in the whole system. In the case McCulloch v. Maryland 1819 he came out with the contention that a state does not have the power to tax the federal entity in any manner. He further contended that if the power to tax was an absolute power that should not be given to state.
In the 1819 case Dartmouth College v. Woodward he came up with the contention that the charter provided by the state to run a business is just a contract. Further in the year 1824, through the case Gibbons v. Ogden he went on to argue that state cannot regulate interstate commerce.

Into politics

Daniel Webster’s first political step was when he was elected to House of Representatives in the year 1812 for a Federalist Party. Daniel’s transition from legal to political career happened smoothly and perfectly.

Thus, with his exceptional skills and perfect understanding of the legal system, Daniel Webster contributed significantly to building the legal system of the country which is remembered even today. The Daniel Webster Memorial monument found in Washington D.C. was built as a mark of respect for his legal and political career. 

Scan On,
DimTec 3D

No comments:

Post a Comment