Samuel Chase was born in Somerset County, Maryland, on April 17, 1741. He was
the only child of the Rev. Thomas Chase, a learned clergyman of the Protestant
Episcopal Church, who emigrated from England, and married Matilda Walker, the
daughter of a local farmer. In 1743, shortly after the death of his wife, the
Rev. Chase moved to St. Paul's in Baltimore.
As Baltimore at this time was not much more than a village, the opportunities
for an education were almost nil. However, Mr. Chase, who had received some of
the best advantages which England had to offer, and had become somewhat of a
scholar, was well qualified to teach his young son. Under the instruction of the
accomplished and scholarly father, young Samuel received a degree of education
uncommon for the boys of that period. At the age of 18 the young man was sent to
Annapolis to study law. His studies there were marked with the same degree of
earnestness which characterized his conduct throughout life.
AFTER BEING admitted to the bar at the age of 20 he chose Annapolis as his
home. It was not long before he was known as able, eloquent and fearless, with
the reputation among the more conservative inhabitants "of being too little
inclined to respect and venerate the dignity of the provincial officers."
Chase married Miss Anne Baldwin in May, 1762, and they had two sons and two
daughters. (In March, 1784, he married his second wife, Hannah Kilty Giles.) He
and his family lived in Annapolis until 1786, when they moved to Baltimore.
For 20 years, 1764 to 1784, Chase was a member of the Maryland General
Assembly. In this legislative body he distinguished himself not only by his
vigorous mind but also by his independent action and his spirit of opposition to
the royal governor and the court party.
On one occasion he went so far as to support a measure regulating the
salaries of the clergy which would cut almost in half that of his own father,
because he thought he was supporting the rights of the people.
SAMUEL CHASE was a born leader of insurrection and revolution. At the early
age of 24 he openly challenged the right of the English Parliament to tax the
Colonies without their consent. In reaction to the Stamp Act, the "Sons of
Liberty" of which Chase was most active member, forcibly opened the public
offices in Annapolis, seized and destroyed the hated stamps. The stamp
distributor or agent was burned in effigy. Chase's activities in these riotous
demonstrations caused him to be denounced by the city officials as a "busy,
restless incendiary, and ringleader of mobs, a foul-mouthed and inflaming son of
discord and faction, a common disturber of the public tranquility, and a
promoter of the lawless excesses of the multitude." Chase, in reply,
admitted his participation but maintained that the so called mob was composed of
"men of reputation and merit" superior to the court official, who had
emerged from obscurity and were basking in proprietary sunshine. This was a bold
stand for a young man to take against the authorities in the Colony.
THE CALM that seemed to follow the repeal of the Stamp act was only
surface-deep and when the various "tea parties" were held in the 1770's,
the flames of revolution were once again visible. The Committees of
Correspondence were daily adding fuel to the fire. In 1774 when word was
received in Maryland that the port of Boston had been closed the indignant
colonists were aroused to action. Several of the Maryland counties appointed
committees of conference which led to the meeting of a Maryland patriotic
convention, which in turn agreed to support a general congress of the various
colonies.
Mr. Chase and four other Marylanders were appointed delegates to this first
Continental Congress in 1774, for the purpose of "agreeing on a general
plan of conduct, operating on the commercial connection of the colonies with the
mother country, for the relief of Boston and preservation of American
liberty." Chase was very active in the first Congress and was chosen a
delegate to represent Maryland at the 2nd Continental Congress which
was to meet in the spring of 1775, and from that time until the end of 1778 he
was reappointed regularly as the Maryland delegate to Congress.
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CHASE, IN A sense, anticipated in 1775 the Declaration of Independence by
declaring in a public speech that he owed no allegiance to the British king.
That he was a leader among the great men of Congress, may be judged from the
fact that he served on 21 committees in 1777 and on 30 in 1778. In the spring of
1776 he was appointed a member of the Commission to Canada, which included two
other very famous Americans, Benjamin Franklin and Charles Carroll of
Carrollton.
When Chase returned from Canada after a fruitless effort to win that Colony
to the American cause, he found that Maryland was still reluctant to unite with
the other colonies in a definite break from the mother country. Although Chase
was a "firebrand" for independence, he was honor bound to follow the
instructions of his beloved state. A great role was played by Chase in returning
to Maryland where he worked tirelessly to swing the opinions of the citizens and
the state Convention in support of independence.
BEFORE LEAVING Philadelphia for Maryland, Chase had practically promised John
Adams that he would deliver the Maryland vote for independence and by his
efforts more than any other man's, Maryland voted for a Declaration of
Independence. On July 5, 1776, the day after the vote for independence, Chase
wrote to John Adams: "I hope ere this time the decisive blow is struck.
Oppression, Inhumanity and Perfidy have compelled Us to it. Blessed be Men who
effect the Work, I envy you! How shall I transmit to posterity that I gave my
assent?"
Samuel Chase was not to be denied the honor he had so well earned, for on
Aug. 2, 1776, he, William Paca, Thomas Stone and Charles Carroll of Carrollton
signed the Declaration of Independence for Maryland. Although some may believe
that his great career and duty to country had reached the peak, in reality they
had just begun.
After the Declaration of Independence had been signed, urgent as were the
demands of his professional duties and private interests, Samuel Chase did not
hesitate to hurry to the Halls of Congress if he heard of any question being in
danger of a wrong decision or if any measure required his support
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On one occasion he had gone back to Annapolis to attend to some business, but
returned quickly to Philadelphia on hearing that the plan for a confederation
and a foreign alliance with France might meet with opposition and delay. During
this period he served on a special committee with Richard Henry Lee and
Gouverneur Morris to write a paper to discredit the British peace overtures of
1778, which would have rescinded American independence. It has been stated that
the final document was largely the handiwork of Chase.
During the early years of the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George
Washington had to fight not only the British armies but the intrigues aimed at
removing him as commanding chief. Throughout all of this, Chase staunchly
supported the general, a fact which Washington was later to remember.
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IN 1778, HOWEVER, Chases's reputation was suddenly shadowed. Chase, the
great champion of American liberty, and a long-time fighter for the rights of
the people, slipped very much out of character. Very little is known of the
affair, but it seems evident that by utilizing information gained as a member of
Congress, Chase joined with others in an attempt to corner the flour market in
view of the approach of the French naval fleet.
Referring to this affair in a New York newspaper, Alexander Hamilton had this
to say of Chase: "It is your lot to have the peculiar privilege of being
universally despised ...Were I inclined to make a satire upon the species I
would attempt a faithful description of your heart." For the next two years
Chase was left off the Maryland delegation to Congress; and though he was later
reappointed he rarely attended and played only a minor role.
Chase was appointed by the State of Maryland to go to England in 1783, in an
attempt to recover some bank stock which belonged to the former colony. Chase
achieved very little success in this matter for the issue was tied up in court
proceedings. It was not until some years later that the problem was settled by
Chase's one-time protégé, William Pinkney, who became among other things the
Attorney General of the United States, American Minister to Naples and St.
Petersburg.
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HOWEVER, WHILE in England Chase met the famous Englishmen, Fox, Pitt and
Burke, and probably just as important, married his second wife, Hannah Giles.
Chase was still practicing law but entered also into the field of trade and
commerce. For the most part, these economic ventures in shipping and the buying
of coal and iron and put him deep in debt. His knowledge of trade, nevertheless,
was great enough to enable him to attend a trade conference at Mount Vernon in
1785, and to help write the compact between Maryland and Virginia regarding the
navigation of the Potomac.
In 1786 Chase moved to Baltimore where in 1788 he became chief judge of the
criminal court and in 1791 also assumed the post of chief judge of the general
court of Maryland. While serving on the bench of this court, Chase showed as a
judge the audacity which was characteristic of his career. His boldness and
fearlessness were displayed in 1794 when he ordered the arrest of two popular
leaders of a riot. The two men refused to give bail and the sheriff, fearing a
rescue would be attempted, hesitated to take them to jail. "Call the possee
commitatus," said Judge Chase, stepping down from the bench, said,
"Summon me, then. I will take them to jail." Although warned that his
life and property would be endangered, Chase personally escorted the two rioters
to the jail.
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A FEW YEARS after this event, Chase was charged by the grand jury with
holding a position in two courts at the same time. Calling the jurymen before
him, he "severely arraigned them, ordering that they confine their
activities to their proper sphere." Yet the holding of these two offices,
chief judge of the criminal court and also of the general court, resulted in an
attempt by the Maryland General Assembly to remove him from office. The move
failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote, but a majority of the members
declared that the spirit of the state constitution had been violated. This
tumultuous episode is another example of the fate that seemed to follow Chase's
path as a judge, both state and national.
Although Chase had been one of the great leaders in our movement for
independence, he is not to be listed among the friends for the adoption of the
new Federal Constitution. Writing over the signature "Caution", Chase
expressed his opposition, and he recorded as one of the 11 members of the
Maryland ratifying convention who voted against the adoption. Strange as it may
seem to the average person, Chase was a member of a committee which proposed
amendments calling for trial by jury and freedom of the press; later in his
career he was to be considered a dangerous enemy to both of these beliefs.
But the day was not far away when Chase, along with that other Marylander,
Luther Martin, would be classified as one of the strongest of federalists both
in words and deeds. Jut why Chase turned Federalist has been somewhat of a
mystery. He was a state's righter in opposition to the constitution, and even
after the document had been put into operation he continued to be recognized as
the leader of that force in Maryland.
Be that as it may, in a letter of 1796 from President Washington's very
close friend, James McHenry, Chase was suggested for appointment to federal
office. Washington was at first considering Chase for the post of
attorney-general; but on Jan. 26, 1796, he nominated him to the United States
Supreme Court. The very next day the Senate approved unanimously, and in
February of that year Chase took his seat.
SINCE THERE is not space to take up the merits of the cases which Judge Chase
helped to rule on during the first few years of service, mention should be made
of the fact that men writing about Chase do not agree as to his role. One says
"The first few years of service on that court were uneventful. Only one of
his decisions of this period was noteworthy."
Another scholar wrote this: "Chase's performance on the Supreme Bench
was the most notably of any previous to Marshall ... Chase was required to
several terms of court to give his opinions first. This accident of position,
together with the colorful quality of his judicial utterances, their
positiveness of expression, their richness in 'political science,' have all
contributed to give his opinions predominant importance in this period."
Chase served on the Supreme Court for 15 years, but most of that time he was
overshadowed by the more famous John Marshall, who came to the court in 1801.
Unfortunately, Judge Chase is almost always associated with and remembered
for the treason trial of John Fries, and his own impeachment trial. In the year
1800, while holding circuit court at Philadelphia, Judge Chase presided over the
case of John Fries, who had been charged with treason in raising an insurrection
against the Federal Government. This was the period of the Alien-Sedition acts
when American democracy was not functioning properly and there was a major
struggle between the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Adams-Federalists.
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CHASE HAD ALWAYS been champion of the people's right; and although he
was often stern and severe he had never been known to be cruel nor
oppressive. Yet in the case of John Fries there are grounds for saying that
Chase did not grant the defendant a fair trial. Fries was sentenced to be
executed and only by a pardon from President Adams was justice gained.
This case and the one concerning Callender for sedition in Virginia were
partly responsible for the impeachment of Chase in 1804-1805. The immediate
occasion for the impeachment was Chase's intemperate charge to the Baltimore
grand jury in May, 1803, when he severely arraigned the administration of
President Jefferson.
President Jefferson wasted little time in suggesting to the House of
Representatives that impeachment proceedings be undertaken against Chase. The
house complied in March, 1804, by a vote of 73 to 32. It was believed by many
then (and is till thought to be true by many today) that although Jefferson
wanted to be rid of Chase, he was to be just a stepping stone to the removal of
a much more dangerous enemy to Jeffersonianism, the Chief Justice John Marshall.
If Chase could be removed then the Jeffersonians were planning to try the same
tactics to remove Marshall.
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