The durability of American government institutions can lull us into a false sense that they never change. Did you know that governors and legislatures made judicial decisions in early America, and in many colonies, legislatures fought with governors to determine which would be the highest court of appeal? Or that John Locke considered the three core functions of government to be executive, legislative, and federative–not judicial?
This webinar examines the creation of the first US Supreme Court and explores court structures that preceded it in colonial and Revolutionary America. By its conclusion, you will understand how the "the judiciary" had been folded into other government functions and only gradually separated from what we now call "the executive" and "the legislature."