The concept of impeachment evolved during the 18th and early 19th centuries from a means of protecting colonists from corrupt British officials and executive officers into a partisan tool for the Federalist Party and Democratic-Republican Party. Ultimately, the political use of impeachment proved to be untenable, and impeachment became an important part of the system of checks and balances of the United States Constitution.
In colonial America, impeachment was modeled upon the English process. The House of Commons impeaches and the House of Lords conducts the trial and issues judgment. This process crossed the Atlantic relatively unchanged. From the 1750s through the 1770s, in cases against British officials, colonists challenged British authority. Significantly, colonial assemblies asserted their supremacy as representatives of the people over other branches of government.
When the revolutionaries wrote their state constitutions (see also constitutions, state), in most cases they included impeachment provisions. Unlike the British system, state constitutions placed restrictions on impeachment. Only officeholders could be impeached for offenses committed while in office, and their punishment was limited to removal from office and being prohibited from public office in the future. In the states, lower houses of the legislature could impeach officials for corruption, bribery, and misuse of power.
During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, impeachment engendered significant debate. No one seriously questioned the power of the House of Representatives to impeach a civil officer, but the Senate’s role provoked controversy. Eventually, most delegates felt comfortable giving the Senate authority to conduct trials. The two-thirds majority requirement for a conviction helped to ensure that the Senate would engage in due deliberation.
Through three impeachment trials from 1797 to 1805, Congress narrowed the definition of an impeachable party and offenses. In the end, participants found that impeachment was not an effective partisan tool but instead was useful in stemming corruption and malfeasance in office. In the first case, the House impeached Senator William Blount of Tennessee for allegedly conspiring with Great
Britain to foment rebellion in the Louisiana Territory. Blount resigned his office and returned to Tennessee before the Senate could try him. Eventually, the Senate dismissed the charges against Blount but never definitively declared whether senators were indeed impeachable. However, the House never again impeached a senator.
The second and third impeachment trials involved federal judges and tested the principle of using impeachment as a partisan tool. In 1804, the House impeached Judge John Pickering of New Hampshire for incompetence. It was general knowledge that Pickering was insane and often presided over court while intoxicated. The Senate convicted Pickering and removed him from office. The most important case was that of Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Chase. In 1805 the Democratic-Republican House indicted Chase for making partisan comments from the bench. This Federalist Party justice proved to be a formidable opponent. Even Democratic-Republican senators were uncomfortable convicting a man for his opinions. The Senate acquitted Chase, and thus the era of partisan impeachments came to a close.
Through these early impeachment trials, the Senate established rules and proceedings that would direct future trials. It established itself as a deliberative body determined to conduct trials in a fair manner guided by judicial principles. Impeachment proved to have limited use as a party tool. Instead, it became an infrequently used method for removing corrupt officials.
See also political parties.
Further reading: Michael J. Gerhardt, The Federal Impeachment Process: A Constitutional and Historical Analysis, 2nd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000); Peter C. Hoffer and N. E. H. Hull, Impeachment in America, 1635-1805 (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1984); Buckner F. Melton, Jr., The First Impeachment: The Constitution’s Framers and the Case of Senator William Blount (Macon, Ga.: Mercer University Press, 1998).
—Terri Halperin
World History
