Not long ago I commented that one of the important things that we need to remember is that not all the time is 
history made by the big names For example we all know the names of many of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Washington, Adams Madison, Franklin But do you know the name Oliver Ellsworth? I know I didn’t, when I came across his name last Wednesday, September 24th the date the Judiciary Act of 1789 was signed into law. While the Constitution created the three branches of government – the executive, the legislative and the judicial in Article III Section 1 of the constitution where it stated that the “judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court,” and such inferior courts as Congress saw fit to establish the Constitution did not spell out the composition or the procedures of any of the courts. The specifics were left up to Congress to decide. The Congress did so with the Judiciary Act of 1789.
Now you may be asking okay – but how does Oliver Ellsworth fit into the picture. Well. Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, was the principal author of the bill!! The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Richard Henry Lee (AA-VA) on June 12, 1780. From Wikipedia….
The Act was passed by the Senate by a vote of 14 to 6 on July 17, 1789. The bill was debated by the House in July and August 1789 before being passed with amendments on September 17, 1789 by a vote of 37 to 16. The Senate agreed to all but four of the House’s amendments on September 19, 1789. The House passed the bill as agreed to by Senate on September 21, 1789. On September 24, 1789, President George Washington signed the Judiciary Act of 1789 into law. That same day, Washington nominated the first Chief Justice and five Associate Justices of the Supreme Court. In addition, Washington nominated district judges, United States Attorneys, and United States Marshals for Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine,New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia….
….The Act set the number of Supreme Court justices at six: one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices. The Supreme Court was given exclusive original jurisdiction over all civil actions between states, or between a state and the United States, as well as over all suits and proceedings brought against ambassadors and other diplomatic personnel; and original, but not exclusive, jurisdiction over all other cases in which a state was a party and any cases brought by an ambassador. The Court was given appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the federal circuit courts as well as decisions by state courts holding invalid any statute or treaty of the United States; or holding valid any state law or practice that was challenged as being inconsistent with the federal constitution, treaties, or laws; or rejecting any claim made by a party under a provision of the federal constitution, treaties, or laws.
The Act also created 13 judicial districts within the 11 states that had then ratified the Constitution (North Carolina and Rhode Island were added as judicial districts in 1790, and other states as they were admitted to the Union). Each state comprised one district, except for Virginia and Massachusetts, each of which comprised two. Massachusetts was divided into the District of Maine (which was then part of Massachusetts) and the District of Massachusetts (which covered modern-day Massachusetts). Virginia was divided into the District of Kentucky (which was then part of Virginia) and the District of Virginia (which covered modern-day West Virginia and Virginia). Read More
Way to go Mr. Ellsworth! Ellsworth prior to being a Senator from Connecticut had been a lawyer and a member of the Connecticut delegation to the Constitutional Convention. At the Convention, Ellsworth had helped shape our country. First prior to the Convention Edmond Randolph of Virginia ….
….had moved to create a “national government” consisting of a supreme legislative, an executive and a judiciary. Ellsworth accepted Randolph’s notion of a threefold division, but moved to strike the phrase “national government.” From this day forward the “United States” was the official title used in the Convention to designate the government, and this usage has remained in effect ever since. The complete name, “the United States of America,” had already been featured by Paine, and its inclusion in the Constitution was the work of Gouverneur Morris when he made the final editorial changes in the Constitution.
Then he played a major role in the creation of our bicameral legislature through the Connecticut Plan or the Great Compromise, which proposed that the members of the Senate be elected by the state legislature and the House by direct vote. Also that the Senate membership was two per state and the House was to be based upon population.While Ellsworth spoke in favor of abolishing slavery he did support the 3/5 compromise whereby slaves would be enumerated as 3/5 of a person. This compromise allowed key Southern states vote to approve the Constitution!
In summary Oliver Ellsworth played a key role in the formation of our country both as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and as a Senator from Connecticut by writing the Judiciary Act of 1789 that created the specifics of the judicial branch of our government. Ellsworth ended his political career serving as the Third Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Overall I think that Mr. Ellsworth deserves a resounding – Thank You along with, a higher stature among our Founding Fathers!!!
