| Conventional wisdom holds that the role of the United States federal judiciary was under-specified and undefined until the era of John Marshall. In contrast, I argue that prior to John Marshall, the Court had the specific institutional role of providing an administrative remedy to aggrieved nations to deprive those hostile nations of any excuse for belligerence. Original jurisdiction was designed primarily to remedy trade disputes. The independent judiciary made trade commitments more credible and self-help by the aggrieved less likely. By providing this administrative remedy and lowering the uncertainty associated with trading with revolutionaries, the framers claimed a seat for the nascent country at the table of nations. This institutional role for an independent judiciary also is found in more recent cases of emerging federations such as the European Union, as well as those nations, such as Egypt and Chile, which seek to re-enter the global economy after a prolonged exit. |
