Luther martin politician biography summary
Home / Political Leaders & Public Figures / Luther martin politician biography summary
Two years later Martin was one of Aaron Burr's defense lawyers when Burr stood trial for treason in 1807.
After a record 28 consecutive years as state attorney general, Luther Martin resigned in December 1805. Martin, in poor health and financial difficulty, was taken in by his old friend Aaron Burr, who oversaw his care for the remainder of his life.
Notes:
1.
Following graduation from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), Luther Martin settled in Queenstown, Maryland, where he served as a schoolmaster at the Queen Anne's County Free School. Though born in Brunswick, NJ., in 1748, Martin moved to Maryland after receiving his degree and taught there for 3 years. (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1976), 581.
Return to Luther Martin's Introductory Page
© Copyright October 30, 2024 Maryland State ArchivesA Biography of Luther Martin 1748-1826
Like many of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention, Luther Martin attended the College of New Jersey (later Princeton), from which he graduated with honors in 1766.
Maryland case.
.
"No other member held more extreme views regarding the rights of the states than did Martin, who insisted,... He was reappointed attorney general of Maryland in 1818, and in 1819 he argued Maryland's position in the landmark Supreme Court case McCulloch v. In 1813 Martin became chief judge of the court of oyer and terminer for the City and County of Baltimore.Two years later, he defended former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr, who presided over Chase's impeachment, against treason charges
From 1813-1816, Martin served as Chief Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Baltimore. He served as Chief Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Baltimore 1813-1816. In the fall of 1774 he served on the patriot committee of Somerset County, and in December he attended a convention of the Province of Maryland in Annapolis, which had been called to consider the recommendations of the Continental Congress.
He also promoted the abolition of slavery on the national stage.
Following the conventions, Martin returned to his legal practice in Maryland. Princetonians, 1746-1768. His numerous public and private duties prevented him from traveling to Philadelphia.
At the Constitutional Convention Martin opposed the idea of a strong central government.
In 1819, he returned to the position of Attorney General, during which time he appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark McCulloch v. During his time there, he was a stark advocate for small states and once gave a three hour speech against the Virginian plan. Heavy drinking, illness, and poverty all took their toll.
Paralysis, which had struck in 1819, forced him to retire as Maryland's attorney general in 1822. 'that the General Government was meant merely to preserve the State Governments, not to govern individuals.'"2 Martin returned to Maryland before the work of the Convention was completed and never signed the Constution.
Of their five children, three daughters lived to adulthood. Martin opposed including slaves in determining representation and believed that the absence of a jury in the Supreme Court gravely endangered freedom.