The role of circuit courts in the formation of United States law in the early republic: following Supreme Court justices Washington, Livingston, Story and Thompson

While scholars have rightly focused on the importance of the landmark opinions of the United States Supreme Court and its Chief Justice, John Marshall, in the rise in influence of the Court in the Early Republic, the crucial role of the circuit courts in the development of a uniform system of federal law across the nation has largely been ignored.

This book highlights the contribution of four Associate Justices (Washington, Livingston, Story, and Thompson) as presiding judges of their respective circuit courts during the Marshall era in order to establish that in those early years federal law grew from the 'inferior courts' upwards rather than down from the Supreme Court.