The Founding Era

 In the early stages of the United States Federal Government, the majority of power was held in the hands of the state governments rather than the federal government. This has been attempted to be changed over the years, with the most significant case being Marbury v. Madison. In this case, John Marshall created what is known as "judicial review." As a result, this gave the Supreme Court a kind of "watchdog" role over the rest of the government. This term "judicial review" was a term that I was not familiar with before this class, but I can see how it played a role in the formation of our current government. The most important take-away point about the Supreme Court, in my opinion, is judicial review, which is the ability to declare an act from any other branch of government either constitutional or unconstitutional. What was really interesting to me is how the Supreme Court serves as the formation for the rest of the government, but the Supreme Court also has the ability to change its own powers, which sounds dangerous. The video changed the way I view the Supreme Court because they have more power in their hands than any other branch of government, but also can be altered by other said branches. Since there are nine Supreme Court Justices at all times, there is never one individual in charge of this power, rather is shared between all justices. If they need to decide something, they must agree in majority to one side in order for the Court's opinion is delivered to the public.