Samuel Chase was born in Somerset County, Maryland, on April 17, 1741. At 18, he moved to Annapolis to read law. He died on June 19, 1811, at the age of seventy.
Chase was an early supporter of independence from England. He signed the Declaration of Independence, was the principal draftsman of Maryland's 1776 constitution, and participated on the revolutionary side during the War of Independence.
However, Chase was involved in an attempt to corner the flour market in 1778, during the War. He did so while a member of the Continental Congress at a time when the Congress was authorizing the purchase of flour for revolutionary troops.
Chase lost his seat, and much of his reputation. Hamilton, who intensely disliked Chase, stated that Chase had "the peculiar privilege of being universally despised."
Chase was an Anti-Federalist at the time of the framing and ratification of the Constitution. At some point shortly thereafter, Chase reversed course, and became a staunch supporter of the exercise of federal power and a believer in a structured and differentiated political and social order.
First, the French Revolution, and then the Terror, struck Chase and many others as a harbinger of events to come in the United States. Second, in 1794, in western Pennsylvania, the Whiskey Rebellion occurred.
The Rebellion was a result of the federal government's effort to try to collect excise taxes on whiskey distilled in western Pennsylvania, a tax that was despised.
The Whiskey Rebellion ended only after Washington sent 15,000 federal troops to the area.
Chase was the only justice in history impeached by the House of Representatives. Chase is best known for an intemperate act that moved the House of Representatives to vote a bill of impeachment against him in 1804. Chase had given an impassioned speech to a grand jury against democratic "mobocracy."
Chase was an Anti-Federalist at the time of the framing and ratification of the Constitution. At some point shortly thereafter, Chase reversed course, and became a staunch supporter of the exercise of federal power and a believer in a structured and differentiated political and social order.
First, the French Revolution, and then the Terror, struck Chase and many others as a harbinger of events to come in the United States. Second, in 1794, in western Pennsylvania, the Whiskey Rebellion occurred.
The Rebellion was a result of the federal government's effort to try to collect excise taxes on whiskey distilled in western Pennsylvania, a tax that was despised.
The Whiskey Rebellion ended only after Washington sent 15,000 federal troops to the area.
Chase was the only justice in history impeached by the House of Representatives. Chase is best known for an intemperate act that moved the House of Representatives to vote a bill of impeachment against him in 1804. Chase had given an impassioned speech to a grand jury against democratic "mobocracy."
