Blog Post #2

 

Supreme Court in the United States

Background and prior knowledge of the Supreme Court

Throughout high school and college in history class, I learned about both the  Supreme Court and the judicial system. I always knew that the Supreme Court was the highest level within the federal court system. I was surprised how one court can oversee and make the executive decision and have jurisdiction for every single law within the United States of America. I always knew the Supreme Court was powerful, I just did not realize the magnitude of how much power the eight justices within the court actually have. I never realized one court had all the power to make such big and important decisions. I also never knew that there were nine justices within the Supreme Court. The nine justices have the power to double-check the actions and decisions made by the two branches of the government between both congress and even the president of the United States.

The Early Beginning of the system

The Supreme Court has been a vital aspect of American history considering it has been around since the late 1700s. When the court was first established it did not have much of an impact and important role for a few years. During the first term of the Supreme Court they never actually heard any cases. Even though there were cases that were acknowledged to the court it took a while for them to actually have the hearing. The first major case that the justices made a decision regarding was for the Barnes. V. West case. This case was in regards to money issues from a farmer who had a debt to a family.

Progression and Improvement throughout the years

Overall the Supreme Court has had a lot of development and changes since it started in the year 1789. For over a hundred years after the Supreme Court was established, they had to even hold a circuit court. Which was not a liked or an easy task to do by any means. At the time travel was difficult which made this duty even harder to complete. This further led to the much-needed executive decision made by congress to end the circuit court in 1891. After learning about the Supreme Court in-depth, it made me realize how vital this court system is to both the  United States government and citizens.