The first Supreme Court justices were six men nominated by President George Washington on September 25, 1789, and confirmed by the Senate the following day: Chief Justice John Jay of New York, and Associate Justices John Rutledge of South Carolina, William Cushing of Massachusetts, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, John Blair of Virginia, and Robert Harrison of Maryland.1United States Senate. First Supreme Court Nominations Confirmed Harrison declined the seat because of poor health, and James Iredell of North Carolina was nominated and confirmed in his place in February 1790.2Supreme Court of the United States. Justices 1789 to Present
The Six Men on the First Bench
Each justice came from a different state, and most had been involved in drafting or ratifying the Constitution itself.
- John Jay of New York, the first Chief Justice, had served as the nation’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs under the Articles of Confederation.3Justia. Chief Justice John Jay
- John Rutledge of South Carolina was a former governor of his state and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention.
- William Cushing of Massachusetts, the senior member by age, had served as chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
- James Wilson of Pennsylvania was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and one of the most influential legal thinkers at the Constitutional Convention.
- John Blair of Virginia had been a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and sat on Virginia’s highest court.
- James Iredell of North Carolina, the youngest of the group, had been a leading advocate for ratification in his home state.
Iredell was not Washington’s original choice for the sixth seat. The position was first offered to Robert Harrison of Maryland, who had served as Washington’s military secretary during the Revolution. A mutual friend reported that Harrison could not take on the duties “in his present deranged State of mind and body.” Harrison died in early 1790, and Iredell took the seat that February.2Supreme Court of the United States. Justices 1789 to Present
How Washington Picked Them
The Constitution sets no formal qualifications for a Supreme Court justice. There is no minimum age, no citizenship requirement, no mandate for legal training, and no requirement to have attended law school.4Supreme Court of the United States. Frequently Asked Questions: General Information Washington could have chosen anyone. He looked for two things.
The first was loyalty to the Constitution. Every appointee had actively supported ratification, and several had helped draft the document. Washington was not willing to risk a judiciary that might undermine the government he had helped build.
The second was geography. No two justices came from the same state, and the appointments stretched from New England to the Deep South.2Supreme Court of the United States. Justices 1789 to Present The spread was deliberate: it signaled that the new federal judiciary belonged to the whole country rather than any one region.
The Senate moved quickly. Washington sent all six names up on September 25, 1789, and the Senate confirmed every nominee on September 26.1United States Senate. First Supreme Court Nominations Confirmed The chamber was small, and the members already knew every nominee personally.
Why There Were Six Seats
Article III of the Constitution created “one supreme Court” but did not say how large it should be. Congress answered that question through the Judiciary Act of 1789, which President Washington signed on September 24, 1789, one day before sending his nominations to the Senate. The law set the Court’s size at six: one Chief Justice and five Associate Justices, with four members forming a quorum.5National Archives. Federal Judiciary Act (1789)
The same Act also saddled the justices with a duty that would define their early years. Congress did not create a separate set of circuit court judges. Instead, the Supreme Court justices were themselves expected to ride circuit, traveling to assigned regions and sitting on federal cases there.5National Archives. Federal Judiciary Act (1789)
What the Job Actually Looked Like
John Jay was sworn in as Chief Justice on October 19, 1789, becoming the first person to take the federal judicial oath.3Justia. Chief Justice John Jay The Court convened for the first time on February 2, 1790, at The Exchange in New York City, which was then the nation’s capital.6Supreme Court of the United States. Meeting Sites of the Court No cases were decided during the Court’s first year. The justices used the opening sessions to set procedural rules and admit attorneys to the bar. The first opinion came down on August 3, 1791, in West v. Barnes.7Supreme Court of the United States. The Court as an Institution
Circuit riding was the harder half of the job. Justices spent six to nine months a year on the road, covering roughly a thousand miles per circuit by horseback or carriage over rough terrain.8National Park Service. Early Supreme Court Justices Ride the Circuit Weather was punishing, transportation was unreliable, and families were left behind for months.9Supreme Court Historical Society. Riding the Circuit Iredell, who drew the vast Southern Circuit, called his position “severe.” Congress did not abolish circuit riding until 1891.
Pay and tenure offered some protection. Article III gives federal judges life tenure during “good Behaviour” and bars Congress from cutting their salaries while they serve.10Congress.gov. Article III Section 1 Even so, the work was unappealing enough that John Jay resigned on June 29, 1795, after about five years as Chief Justice, to become Governor of New York.11Supreme Court Historical Society. John Jay, 1789-1795 The fact that the country’s highest-ranking judge traded the bench for a state governorship says a great deal about the Court’s standing in those years.
The Case That Defined Their Tenure
The most consequential ruling from the first Court came in Chisholm v. Georgia in 1793. Alexander Chisholm, a South Carolina citizen, sued the state of Georgia in the Supreme Court to recover a debt. Georgia refused to appear and argued that a sovereign state could not be hauled into federal court by a private citizen. The Court ruled against Georgia and ordered the state to pay.12Justia. Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419 (1793)
States treated the decision as an attack on their sovereignty. Congress proposed what became the Eleventh Amendment, which once ratified stripped federal courts of jurisdiction over suits brought against a state by citizens of another state or by foreign citizens.13Constitution Center. The Eleventh Amendment Pending cases against states were dismissed. The first six justices had delivered a ruling important enough to be overruled by constitutional amendment, and in doing so they taught the country how the other branches could push back on the Court.