By Capri Gahr
Student Reporter
NWOSU annually hosts an event called Constitution Day. This is event is hosted by the department of social sciences and the NWOSU Institute for Citizenship Studies assists in the promotion of such events.
Constitution Day is a federal observance that honors the adoption of the United States constitution. NWOSU observes this day by having a speaker that will discuss the facts and their expert opinions on different aspects of the constitution, the history surrounding different interpretations and influential people.
This year, the speaker was Dr. Charles F. Hobson. Hobson is a retired historian and scholar. The Library of America published some of his works in 2010. These works included Marshall’s writings throughout his life.
In 1996, Hobson wrote “The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Rule of Law,” which discusses John Marshall and his critical role in defining the constitutional limits in legislative action. He also worked as an editor on
This year, Constitution Day will be discussing “The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and His Legacy on the Law, the Courts, and the Constitution.”
John Marshall is most notably known for helping to institute the supreme courts power as having the final say when interpreting the constitution. He was the fourth chief justice of the United States.
His influence helped establish the federal government as having more control than the governments at state level. He was a part of the Federalist Party and pushed to have a high importance on the federal government instead of state level courts.
Hobson mainly discussed Marshall’s life, importance as a politician and his role supporting the Federalist Party.
He also took time to talk about affairs with Cherokee Indians. He described their rights as American citizens and affairs between natives and the court system.
When asked about Marshall’s flaws, Hobson recounted how Marshall and Thomas Jefferson were at different sides of the federalist discussion. Marshall was a federalist and Jefferson was an antifederalist. He said he wished Marshall had realized the “genius” that Jefferson was and how a compromise on staunch issues would have benefitted the development of the constitution.
Madison Wilson, a history major, said she enjoyed the constitution day speaker. “Tonight it was just interesting because we got to hear more about his personal life and who he was as a person and how he cared for his wife and just little things about his life that you wouldn’t normally hear about in your mainstream classes, “ she said.
When asked about his favorite fact about John Marshall, Hobson described how Marshall took pride and unyielding stress for detail when playing his favorite game: pitching quoits. Alike horseshoes, players toss a ring at a peg. “Sometimes the fourth justice of the united states would get down on his hands and knees to measure the distance,” he said. “Reportedly there were no dissents from his decisions of who was closest.”