The Life of John Marshall essays

The Life of John Marshall essays Born in 1755 and dying in 1835, John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States, is a greatly respected and revered historical figure and person, even after death. Besides his impressive collection of official accomplishments and positions held, Marshalls presence throughout the Revolutionary War and after had much influence on the circumstances happening around him. John Marshall was born on September 24th to Mary Randolph Keith and Thomas Marshall in Germantown, Virginia. Being the first of 15 children, John grew up in a large family. Although his parents were not formally educated, they were considered adequately educated for the times and held a significant social, religious, and political status in Fauquier County where they lived. Books were hard to obtain, but John managed to get his hands on some and became enthralled with the writings of Shakespeare, Dryden, and Pope by the time he was twelve. In 1767 John received his first bit of formal education when a young Scottish minister came to live with his family for a year. It had long been Thomas Marshalls dream for his son to be a lawyer and he tried to give John every advantage he could. In 1780 John took a six-week course at William and Mary College, where he attended law lectures and philosophy classes. John Marshall had an impressive military career. During the Revolutionary War, John distinguished himself serving as a member of the 3rd Virginia Regiment. He joined the Culpeper Minute Men and was chosen as Lieutenant and fought in many well-known battles, such as Bunker Hill, with his father. It was during Benedict Arnolds invasion in 1780, when Marshall first started his disliking for Thomas Jefferson. Marshall had heard the stories about Jefferson fleeing shamelessly without first warning other of attack and disapproved of them greatly. In 1788 he became the captain of the Continental Army. By the end of the war, he was ...