Relates the story behind Marbury v Madison and explains why it is a foundational case for understanding the US Supreme Court. Nelson reveals how John Marshall deftly avoided a dangerous political confrontation between the executive and judicial branches by upholding the rule of law, and how he managed to shore up the Court's prestige and power rather than have it serve partisan political agendas.

Relates the story behind Marbury v Madison and explains why it is a foundational case for understanding the US Supreme Court. Nelson reveals how John Marshall deftly avoided a dangerous political confrontation between the executive and judicial branches by upholding the rule of law, and how he managed to shore up the Court's prestige and power rather than have it serve partisan political agendas.

After concluding that the mid-eighteenth-century colonial legal system usually functioned effectively, this book focuses on constitutional events leading to the American Revolution, showing how lawyers used ideology in the interests of their clients and became revolutionary leaders. Ideology thus served to protect institutional structures and socio-economic interests.