To what extent was this act constitutional and how did it impact the nature of the federal republic (in other words, did this legislation lay any ground work for the gradual establishment of a national republic)?
Other than the shortcoming the Supreme Court identified in McCulloch v. Maryland, I don’t see that the Judiciary Act of 1789 was unconstitutional. That’s unsurprising, as its chief authors — Senators Paterson (NJ) and Ellsworth (CT) — had been the chief authors of Article III in the Philadelphia Convention.
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