Description: The story of the landmark case of Fletcher v. Peck (1810), in which Chief Justice John Marshall first expounded the contract clause of the Constitution.
Brief description: Charles F. Hobson is the author of The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law, also from Kansas. For many years, he was on the staff of the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture at the College of William and Mary, where he produced the scholarly editions of The Papers of John Marshall and St. George Tucker's Law Reports. He was also resident scholar at the William and Mary School of Law.
Review Quotes:
"One of our nation's leading scholars offers a cohesive study on one of the Marshall Court's three most important cases--Fletcher v. Peck. Perceived by some as a 'feigned case, ' Hobson reveals the case's legitimacy."--William E. Nelson, author of The Colonial Law in America and Marbury v. Madison: The Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review
"Charles F. Hobson, the longtime editor of The Papers of John Marshall, brings his unsurpassed familiarity with John Marshall to bear on the Marshall Court's first decision invaliding a state law as inconsistent with the U.S. Constitution. Dr. Hobson's The Great Yazoo Land Sale: The Case of Fletcher v. Peck is a terrific companion to his highly regarded The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law."--Scott Douglas Gerber, author of A Distinct Judicial Power: The Origins of an Independent Judiciary, 1606-1787
"Hobson offers an excellent synthesis of Fletcher v. Peck--creating a distinguished addition to the Landmark Law series." --Herbert A. Johnson, author of Gibbons v. Ogden: John Marshall, Steamboats and the Commerce Clause