William Wirt (November 8, 1772 – February 18, 1834) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of
United States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
into one of influence.
Born in
Bladensburg, MarylandBladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 7,661 at the 2000 census.Bladensburg is from central Washington, DC...
, to a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
father and a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
mother, Wirt was privately educated, studied law and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1792. He began practice at Culpeper Courthouse, Virginia. After several years as a lawyer, he became clerk of the
Virginia House of DelegatesThe Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...
, then chancellor of the Eastern District of Virginia.
William Wirt (November 8, 1772 – February 18, 1834) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author and statesman who is credited with turning the position of
United States Attorney GeneralThe United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
into one of influence.
Biography
Born in
Bladensburg, MarylandBladensburg is a town in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The population was 7,661 at the 2000 census.Bladensburg is from central Washington, DC...
, to a
SwissSwitzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 states named cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities...
father and a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
mother, Wirt was privately educated, studied law and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1792. He began practice at Culpeper Courthouse, Virginia. After several years as a lawyer, he became clerk of the
Virginia House of DelegatesThe Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...
, then chancellor of the Eastern District of Virginia. In 1807,
PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States , the principal author of the Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States...
asked him to be the prosecutor in
Aaron BurrAaron Burr, Jr. was an American politician, Revolutionary War participant, and adventurer. He served as the third Vice President of the United States , under Thomas Jefferson....
's treason trial. President
James MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . His administration was marked by the acquisition of Florida ; the Missouri Compromise , in which Missouri was declared a slave state; the admission of Maine in 1820 as a free state; and the profession of the Monroe Doctrine , declaring U.S...
named him the ninth Attorney General of the United States in 1817, a position he held for 12 years, through the administration of
John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829. He was also an American diplomat and served in both the Senate and House of Representatives...
, until 1829. William Wirt has the record for the longest tenure in history of any U.S.
attorney generalIn most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general, or attorney-general, is the main legal advisor to the government, and in some jurisdictions he or she may in addition have executive responsibility for law enforcement or responsibility for public prosecutions.-Usage:The term has traditionally...
. After his retirement he resided in Baltimore.
In June 1830, a delegation of
CherokeeThe Cherokee are a Native American people from the Southeastern United States...
led by
Chief John RossJohn Ross , also known as Guwisguwi , was Principal Chief of the Cherokee Native American Nation from 1828-1860...
selected Wirt on the urging of Senators
WebsterDaniel Webster was a leading American statesman during the nation's Antebellum Period. He first rose to regional prominence through his defense of New England shipping interests...
and
FrelinghuysenTheodore Frelinghuysen was an American politician, serving as New Jersey Attorney General, United States Senator, and Mayor of Newark, New Jersey before running as a candidate for Vice President with Henry Clay on the Whig ticket in the election of 1844...
to defend Cherokee rights before the U.S. Supreme Court. Wirt called, in
Cherokee Nation v. GeorgiaCherokee Nation v. Georgia, , was a United States Supreme Court case.- Background :On December 20, 1828, the state of Georgia, fearful that the United States would not effect the removal of the Cherokee Nation tribal band from their historic lands in Georgia; enacted a series of laws which...
, that the Cherokee Nation "a
foreign nation in the sense of our constitution and law" and was thus not subject to Georgia's jurisdiction. Wirt asked the Supreme Court to null and void all Georgia laws extended over Cherokee territory on the grounds that they violated the U.S. Constitution, United States-Cherokee treaties, and United States intercourse laws.
Although the Court determined that it did not have original jurisdication in this case, the Court held open the possibility that it yet might rule in favor of the Cherokee. Wirt therefore waited for a test case to again resolve the constitutionality of the laws of Georgia. The opportunity came on March 1, 1831, when Georgia passed a law aimed at evicting missionaries, who were perceived as encouraging the Cherokee resistance to removal, from Cherokee lands. The
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign MissionsThe American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was the first American Christian foreign mission agency. It was proposed in 1810 by recent graduates of Williams College and officially chartered in 1812. In 1961 it merged with other societies to form the United Church Board for World...
, an interdenominational missionary organization hired Wirt to challenge the new law. The decision in
Worcester v. GeorgiaWorcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that Cherokee Native Americans were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty.-The Case:Georgia law required all whites living in...
was handed down by
Chief JusticeThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States...
John MarshallJohn Marshall was an American statesman and jurist who shaped American constitutional law and made the Supreme Court a center of power. Marshall was Chief Justice of the United States, serving from February 4, 1801, until his death in 1835...
on March 3, 1832 and decided that the Cherokee Nation was "a distinct community, occupying its own territory, with boundaries accurately described, in which the laws of Georgia can have no force, and which the citizens of Georgia have no right to enter but with the assent of the Cherokees themselves or in conformity with treaties and with the acts of Congress."
After leaving Washington, D.C., he returned to Baltimore, Maryland, was an unsuccessful
candidate for President in 1832The United States presidential election of 1832 saw incumbent President Andrew Jackson, candidate of the Democratic Party, easily win reelection against Henry Clay of Kentucky. Jackson won 219 of the 286 electoral votes cast, defeating Clay, the candidate of the National Republican party, and...
as the candidate of the Anti-Masonic party. This was perhaps ironic because he was, in fact, a former Freemason and, according to some sources, even gave a speech at the Anti-Masonic convention defending the organization although others said that he regretted having been a member. This event was the first national nominating convention ever held by a U.S. political party. He won
VermontThe State of Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd by land area, , and 45th by total area. It has a population of 621,270, making it the second least-populated state...
, and thus was the first candidate of an organized third party to carry a state. Wirt practiced law until his death in 1834.
In 1816, Wirt wrote
Life and Character of Patrick Henry, a biography of
Patrick HenryPatrick Henry served as the first post-colonial Governor of Virginia from 1776 to 1779. A prominent figure in the American Revolution, Henry is known and remembered for his "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" speech, and as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States...
which contained the supposed text of some of Henry's speeches, many of which had never been published. Some historians have since speculated that some of Henry's phrases that have since become famous, such as "
Give me Liberty, or give me Death!"Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" is a famous quotation attributed to Patrick Henry from a speech he made to the Virginia Convention. It was given March 23, 1775, at St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, and is credited with having swung the balance in convincing the Virginia House of...
," were fabricated by Wirt for this book. He had the distinction of being regarded for many years as the chief man of letters in the South.
Grave robbery
In the early 2000s, after a series of mysterious phone calls to the cemetery, it was discovered that in the 1970s someone had broken into the Wirt Tomb at Washington, D.C.'s
Congressional CemeteryThe Congressional Cemetery is an historic cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the bank of the Anacostia River. It is the final resting place of hundreds of individuals who helped form the nation and the city of Washington in the early 19th century. Many members of the...
and had stolen Wirt's skull. After the skull was recovered from the house of a historical memorabilia collector, it spent time in D.C. Council member Jim Graham's office while he tried to get it returned to its rightful crypt. Finally in 2005 investigators from the
Smithsonian InstitutionThe Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and its magazines...
were able to determine the skull, which had gold block letters saying "Hon. Wm. Wirt" painted on it, was indeed his and had it returned.
Legacy
Wirt County, West VirginiaWirt County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of 2000, the population was 5,873, the least of any county in West Virginia. Its county seat is Elizabeth. Wirt County is included in the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, West Virginia-Ohio Metropolitan Statistical Area. The...
(formerly Virginia), is named in his honor.
Important Cases Argued
- Gibbons v. Ogden
Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The case was argued by some of America's most admired and capable attorneys at the time....
- McCulloch v. Maryland
McCulloch v. Maryland, , was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States. The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. Though the law, by its language,...
- Cherokee Nation v. Georgia
Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, , was a United States Supreme Court case.- Background :On December 20, 1828, the state of Georgia, fearful that the United States would not effect the removal of the Cherokee Nation tribal band from their historic lands in Georgia; enacted a series of laws which...
- Worcester v. Georgia
Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 , was a case in which the United States Supreme Court held that Cherokee Native Americans were entitled to federal protection from the actions of state governments which would infringe on the tribe's sovereignty.-The Case:Georgia law required all whites living in...
Further reading
- Jabour, Anya. Marriage in the Early Republic: Elizabeth and William Wirt and the Companionate Ideal. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.