Chase, Samuel (redirected from Samuel Chase)

Chase, Samuel, 1741–1811, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1796–1811), b. Somerset co., Md. A lawyer, he participated in pre-Revolutionary activities and was a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses. In 1776 he was appointed, together with Benjamin Franklin and Charles Carroll of Carrollton, to win Canada over to the Revolutionary cause, but the plan failed. Chase helped to influence Maryland opinion to support independence from Great Britain. Although he opposed adoption of the U.S. Constitution, he later became a strong Federalist and President Washington appointed him (1796) to the U.S. Supreme Court. A series of brilliant and influential decisions established his leadership in the court until he was eclipsed by the rising genius of John Marshall. Chase was impeached (1804) by the U.S. House of Representatives for discrimination on the bench against Jeffersonians. Tried before the Senate (1805), he was found not guilty. This verdict discouraged further attempts to impeach justices for purely political reasons.

---

Chase, Samuel

(born April 17, 1741, Princess Anne, Md.—died June 19, 1811, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. He was a member of the Maryland assembly (1764–84). An ardent patriot, he helped lead the Sons of Liberty in violent resistance against the Stamp Act. He served on the state Committee of Correspondence (1774), was elected to the Continental Congress, and signed the Declaration of Independence. When Alexander Hamilton exposed his attempt to corner the flour market (1778), Chase retired from Congress, only to return in 1784. He served as chief judge of the Maryland General Court from 1791 to 1796, when Pres. George Washington appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States. Chase upheld the primacy of U.S. treaties over state statutes in Ware v. Hylton. In Calder v. Bull (1798) he contributed to the definition of due process. At the instigation of Pres. Thomas Jefferson, Chase was impeached for partisan conduct in 1804. His acquittal established the principle that federal judges can be removed only for indictable criminal acts, thus strengthening the independence of the judiciary. Chase served until 1811.

---

Chase, Samuel (1741–1811) Supreme Court justice; born in Somerset County, Md. A member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence, President Washington named him to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1796. President Jefferson attempted to impeach Chase because of his independent stance (1804), but Congress rejected the proposition in a move that secured the strength of the judiciary.