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CHASE, SAMUEL (1741–1811)

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 956 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHASE, See also:SAMUEL (1741–1811) , See also:American jurist, was See also:born in See also:Somerset See also:county, See also:Maryland, on the 17th of See also:April 1741. He was admitted to the See also:bar at See also:Annapolis in 1761, and for more than twenty years was a member of the Maryland legislature. He took an active See also:part in the resistance to the See also:Stamp See also:Act, and from 1774 to 1778 and 1784 to 1785 was a member of the See also:Continental See also:Congress. With See also:Benjamin See also:Franklin and See also:Charles See also:Carroll he was sent by. Congress in 1776 to win over the Canadians to the See also:side of the revolting colonies, and after his return did much to persuade Maryland to See also:advocate a formal separation of the thirteen colonies from See also:Great See also:Britain, he himself being one of those who signed the See also:Declaration of See also:Independence on the 2nd of See also:August 1776. In this See also:year he was also a member of the See also:convention which framed the first constitution for the See also:state of Maryland. After serving in the Maryland convention which ratified for that state the Federal Constitution, and therevigorously opposing ratification, though afterwards he was an ardent Federalist, he became in 1791 See also:chief See also:judge of the Maryland See also:general See also:court, which position he resigned in 1796 for that of an See also:associate See also:justice of the Supreme Court of the See also:United States. His See also:radical Federalism; however, led him to continue active in politics, and he took See also:advantage of every opportunity, on the See also:bench and off, to promote the cause of his party. His over-bearing conduct while presiding at the trials of See also:John See also:Fries for See also:treason, and of See also:James See also:Thompson Callender (d. 1813) for seditious 'See also:libel in 1800, drove the lawyers for the See also:defence from the court, and evoked the wrath of the Republicans, who were stirred to See also:action by a See also:political harangue on the evil tendencies of See also:democracy which he delivered as a See also:charge to a See also:grand See also:jury at See also:Baltimore in 1803. The See also:House of Representatives adopted a See also:resolution of See also:impeachment in See also:March 1804, and on the 7th of See also:December 1804 the House managers, chief among whom were John See also:Randolph, See also:Joseph H. See also:Nicholson (1770-1817), and See also:Caesar A.

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Rodney (1772–1824), laid their articles of impeachment before the See also:Senate. The trial, with frequent interruptions and delays, lasted from the 2nd of See also:January to the 1st of March 1805. Judge Chase was defended by the ablest lawyers in the See also:country, including See also:Luther See also:Martin, See also:Robert Goodloe Harper (1765–1825), See also:Philip See also:Barton See also:Key (1757–1815), Charles See also:Lee (1758–1815), and Joseph See also:Hopkinson (1770-1842). The See also:indictment, in eight articles, dealt with his conduct in the Fries and Callender trials, with his treatment of a See also:Delaware grand jury, and (in See also:article viii.) with his making " highly indecent, extra-judicial " reflections upon the See also:national See also:administration, probably the greatest offence in Republican eyes. On only three articles was there a See also:majority against Judge Chase, the largest, on article viii., being four See also:short of the necessary two-thirds to convict. " The See also:case," says See also:Henry See also:Adams, "proved impeachment to be an impracticable thing for See also:partisan purposes, and it decided the permanence of those lines of constitutional development which were a reflection of the See also:common See also:law." Judge Chase resumed his seat on the bench, and occupied it until his See also:death on the 19th of See also:June 1811. See The Trial of Samuel Chase (2 vols.,See also:Washington, 1805), reported by Samuel H. See also:Smith and See also:Thomas See also:Lloyd; an article in The American Law See also:Review, vol. xxxiii. (St See also:Louis, Mo., 1899) ; and Henry Adams's See also:History of the United States, vol. ii. (New See also:York, 1889).

End of Article: CHASE, SAMUEL (1741–1811)

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