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Impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase begins (November 1804)

When
1805
Where
Senate Chamber
Episodes
2

Samuel Chase, a Federalist Supreme Court justice, faced impeachment by the House in 1804 due to alleged partisan conduct and judicial misconduct. The House adopted eight articles in December 1804, leading to a Senate trial in February 1805. The trial resulted in acquittal, marking a significant political victory for the Federalist judiciary against Jeffersonian attempts to remove Federalist judges.

Episodes

  1. February 9, 1805 · Senate ChamberSenate Trial Begins

    The impeachment trial commenced in the Senate on February 9, 1805, with Vice President Aaron Burr presiding.

  2. March 1, 1805 · Senate ChamberAcquittal Delivered

    The Senate acquitted Samuel Chase on March 1, 1805, failing to secure the two-thirds majority for conviction.

Background and detail

Political Context. Jeffersonian Republicans sought to remove Federalist judges following the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801. Chase denounced this repeal in 1803, warning of mobocracy. His earlier conduct in the 1800 Cooper trial and his partisan leanings influenced the impeachment charges. The political climate included warnings from Federalist Senator John Quincy Adams about a crusade against federal judges.

Senate Trial. The Senate trial began on February 9, 1805, with Vice President Aaron Burr presiding. Virginia Representative John Randolph led the prosecution. The trial concluded with an acquittal on March 1, 1805. None of the eight articles received the necessary two-thirds majority for conviction, allowing Chase to remain in office.

People involved

Sources

  1. Impeachment of Samuel Chase Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-02
  2. Samuel Chase Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.