18
“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United
States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof;
and all Treaties made, or which shall be made,
under the Authority of the United States, shall
be the supreme Law of the Land; …
“Supreme Law of the Land” conveys the idea that
this
is
one
land,
one
country,
not
a
league
of
separate countries.
Jefferson
said,
‘We
the
people’
wrote
the
constitution, and only ‘we the people’ – that is, the
legislature – had the right to interpret it. (Cited
in Beveridge, Life of John Marshall, 3: 605–606).
Kentucky
Republican
Jefferson’s
argument
John
to
Breckenridge,
the
Senate
expanding
commended
that
constitution had ‘intended a separation of the power
vested in the three great departments, giving to each
exclusive
authority
on
the
subjects
committed
to
each���. The Legislature had the exclusive right to
interpret the constitution as regards the law-making
process and the Judges were bound to execute the laws
they made. Let gentlemen consider well before they
insist on a power in the judiciary which places the