Text of the Supreme Court Decision
~200Kb
The Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (17 US 518
[1819]).
Daniel Webster's Biography
A Short Biography of Daniel Webster from the Biographical
Directory of the United States Congress: 1774 -Present.
The Charter of Dartmouth College
Granted December 13, 1769 by King George III of England.
Also see The
Charter of Dartmouth College provided on the Internet
by Scott Meacham, Dartmouth Class of 1995. Includes an outline
of the charter, list of notable clauses, and list of changes.
Webster's Peroration (closing
argument to the court).
"It is, Sir, as I have said,
a small college. And, yet there are those who love it!"
 A
letter of support for Plumer's cause from former President
Thomas Jefferson writtten in 1816, and an explanation of
the case is provided by the Library of Congress' American
Memory collection.
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In
the summer of 1819 the newly elected governor of New Hampshire,
William Plumer, sought to take control of the college's
charter from its (Federalist) trustees in order to replace
the board with elected (Republican) members.
Daniel
Webster successfully argued for Dartmouth in the U.S. Supreme
Court, and Chief Justice John Marshall handed down the decision
that Dartmouth was a private rather than public entity,
therefore, the state of New Hampshire did not have regulatory
power over it. This is considered an important historical
decision as it limits the control a state government may
have over a corporate charter.
