Shaping The Courts of America: The Judiciary Act of 1789
On the 17th of September in 1787, the delegates of the thirteen American colonies gathered at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and signed the document that is known as the Constitution of the United States of America. On the 21st of June in 1788, the Constitution had been ratified by eleven of the thirteen colonies, and other laws and acts were being discussed as well by the representatives. While the Constitution had done a phenomenal job at creating and outlining the legislative system in Article 1 and the executive system in Article 2, it was very vague when describing the judiciary system and its powers in Article 3. As a result, the Senate deemed it necessary to appoint a committee responsible for making judicial outline. On the 7th of April, 1789, that committee was created, and they would establish one of the
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Ellsworth had proven himself to be an ideal choice to lead the committee and to create the document because of his background. He had a role in shaping the first draft of the Constitution of the United States as well as creating the Connecticut Compromise. The Compromise created a bicameral Congress that had equal representation for each state in the Senate in order to appease the states with lower populations since they were worried about not having a voice in government. Ellsworth met with other senators, notably William Paterson of New Jersey, to begin drafting the act, and he served as its principal author.
During the drafting process, multiple copies and drafts were distributed to the members of the legal community for feedback and thoughts. In the committee, Federalists and Antifederalists were present and active. These groups clashed multiple times because of their opposing views on the amount of power the federal courts and other parts of the judiciary system should