Fletcher v. Peck
At a glance:
- Series: Great Events from History: North American Series
- Categories: Economics, Land Acquisition and Expansion, Territory Redistribution, Law, Legal History, Courts
- Subcategories: Court Cases, Rulings, Appeals, Supreme Court, U.S.
- Curriculum: American Indian History, American Early National History (1789-1815)
- Geographical Location: Washington, D.C.
- Date: March 16, 1810
Article abstract: The U.S. Supreme Court expands the idea of the sanctity of contracts as expressed in the Constitution.
Summary of Event
While it is axiomatic that many of the cases from which great constitutional principles are derived have sordid backgrounds, few if any have emerged from such comic-opera corruption as Fletcher v. Peck. On January 7, 1795, the Georgia legislature passed a bill permitting the sale of some thirty-five million acres of fertile, well-watered land for five hundred thousand dollars, payable over a five-year period....
[The entire page is 1930 words long]