Congressional Service and Later Political Activities
Hopkinson was elected as a Federalist to the Fourteenth Congress, in 1816. He was reelected to the succeeding Fifteenth Congress. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1818.
On February 22–27, 1819, he argued before the United States Supreme Court in the McCulloch v. Maryland case as part of the defense counsel. In this case he argued against Daniel Webster, speaking directly after him, and specifically his idea of equating taxation with the power to destroy. He argued strongly for States' rights: claiming a United States Bank Branch was unconstitutional based on the prohibition of congress to delegate power, a co-equal taxation power between the federal and state governments, the enumerated nature of the federal government and the reserved powers of the states (declared in the 10th amendment).
He moved to Bordentown, New Jersey, in 1820, and served as a member of the New Jersey House of Assembly from 1821 to 1822.
Read more about this topic: Joseph Hopkinson
Famous quotes containing the words service, political and/or activities:
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Lay your weariness beneath my laurel tree.”
—Horace [Quintus Horatius Flaccus] (65–8)
“The merely political aspect of the land is never very cheering; men are degraded when considered as the members of a political organization.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Both gossip and joking are intrinsically valuable activities. Both are essentially social activities that strengthen interpersonal bonds—we do not tell jokes and gossip to ourselves. As popular activities that evade social restrictions, they often refer to topics that are inaccessible to serious public discussion. Gossip and joking often appear together: when we gossip we usually tell jokes and when we are joking we often gossip as well.”
—Aaron Ben-Ze’Ev, Israeli philosopher. “The Vindication of Gossip,” Good Gossip, University Press of Kansas (1994)