[Pennsylvania]: [Snyder Rebellion]:

$2,750 · Offered by William Reese Company · No longer available

RESOLUTIONS OF THE PENNSYLVANIA ASSEMBLY. An interesting pair of documents relating to the "Snyder Rebellion," a short-lived, controversial, early American "States' Rights" challenge to a prolonged legal dispute that pitted federal authority against Pennsylvania claims from 1778 to 1809. The rebellion—which manifested itself as a brief period of political resistance—was an attempt by the governor of Pennsylvania, Simon Snyder, to prevent enforcement of the final judgment by the Supreme Court in the Gideon Olmstead case. "Republicans anxious to demonstrate that the federal government in their hands would respect the rights of states found the case embarrassing; Federalist newspapers gleefully pounced upon it as an example of their opponents' hypocrisy. The issue split Pennsylvania Republicans" - James Madison Papers. Beyond the political embarrassment the case caused President Madison, it was also an example of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall's expanding view of federal power as opposed to state prerogatives.The situation began in 1778, when Gideon Olmstead, a Connecticut resident who had been impressed into the British Navy, and three compatriots mutinied and took over a British vessel, the Active, during the American Revolution. When the Active sailed into American waters, it was captured by a Pennsylvania-owned ship, the Convention. A dispute arose over the maritime prize for the captured vessel. Pennsylvania courts awarded the prize to several interested parties,

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