Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1789)
- Docket
- 17us518
- Decided
- 1789-1850-
Summary
Question: Did the New Hampshire legislature unconstitutionally interfere with Dartmouth College's rights under the Contract Clause? Conclusion: The Contract Clause (Art 1, Section 10, Clause 1) prohibits states from violating contracts with private or public corporations. In a 5-to-1 decision, the Court concluded that the Contract Clause applies to private as well as public corporations. The Court held that the College's corporate charter qualified as a contract between private parties, with which the legislature could not interfere. The fact that the government had commissioned the charter did not transform the school into a civil institution. Chief Justice Marshall's opinion emphasized that the term "contract" referred to transactions involving individual property rights, not to "the political relations between the government and its citizens."