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06/03/2019 Trustees of v. Woodward | Oyez

Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward

P E T I T I O N E R R E S P O N D E N T

Trustees of Dartmouth College William H. Woodward

D O C K E T N O . D E C I D E D B Y

None (/courts?court=Marshall Court )

L O W E R C O U R T

State appellate court

C I T A T I O N A D V O C A T E S

17 US 518 (1819) (advocates/daniel_webster)

(https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/17/518) for the Trustees of Dartmouth College

A R G U E D

Mar 10 - 12, 1818

D E C I D E D

Feb 25, 1819

Facts of the case In 1816, the New Hampshire legislature attempted to change Dartmouth College-- a privately funded institution--into a state university. The legislature changed the school's corporate charter by transferring the control of trustee appointments to the governor. In an attempt to regain authority over the resources of Dartmouth College, the old trustees led suit against William H. Woodward, who sided with the new appointees.

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/17us518 1/2 06/03/2019 Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward | Oyez Question Did the New Hampshire legislature unconstitutionally interfere with Dartmouth College's rights under the ?

Conclusion

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5 – 1 D E C I S I O N F O R T R U S T E E S O F D A R T M O U T H C O L L E G E

M A J O R I T Y O P I N I O N B Y J O H N M A R S H A L L

The Contract Clause (Art 1, Section 10 Clause 1) prohibits states from

violating contracts with private or public corporations

Bushrod WashingtonHenry Brockholst LivingstonGabriel Duvall

hn Marshall

The Contract Clause (Art 1, Section 10, Clause 1) prohibits states from violating contracts with private or public corporations. In a 6-to-1 decision, the Court concluded that the Contract Clause applies to private as well as public corporations. The Court held that the College's corporate charter qualied as a contract between private parties, with which the legislature could not interfere. The fact that the government had commissioned the charter did not transform the school into a civil institution. Chief Justice Marshall's opinion emphasized that the term "contract" referred to transactions involving individual property rights, not to "the political relations between the government and its citizens."

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"Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward." Oyez, 6 Mar. 2019, www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/17us518.

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1789-1850/17us518 2/2