Marbury v. Madison: Write an Essay

Do you use document-based questions in your classroom?

This summer the Bill of Rights Institute is blogging a document-based question on the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison (1803). Each weekly post will feature an excerpted document related to the case, along with some questions to guide your thinking on it. Each document should be used to address the question: “Argue whether or not the Supreme Court should have the power to overturn unconstitutional federal laws.”

Directions: Answer the Key Question in a well-organized essay that incorporates your interpretations of Documents A-K, as well as your own knowledge of history.

Document A: Brutus, No. 15, 1788

Document B: Federalist No. 78, 1788

Document C: Federalist No. 78, 1788

Document D: Federalist No. 78, 1788

Document E: Federalist No. 81, 1788

Document F: Sections of Article III of the United States Constitution, 1789

Document G: The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, 1789

Document H: Section 13, Judiciary Act of 1789

Document I: The Kentucky Resolution, Thomas Jefferson, 1798

Document J: Unanimous Majority Opinion, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

Document K: Thomas Jefferson to Spencer Roane, 1819

The Issue Endures: