Forgotten Founder

Luther Martin’s life was one marked by brilliance, contradiction, and an unrelenting commitment to his principles. Born on February 20, 1748, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Martin grew into one of the most formidable legal minds of the early United States. He stood as a paradox—a man fiercely opposed to centralized power who also wielded considerable influence in shaping American law and politics. As a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787, his fervent opposition to the Virginia Plan and his vocal support for states’ rights placed him at odds with many of his contemporaries. Yet, despite his anti-Federalist stance, he would later argue some of the nation’s most important legal cases, defending figures like Aaron Burr and Justice Samuel Chase.

Martin’s early years were shaped by rigorous education and intellectual ambition. He graduated with honors from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1766, displaying a sharp mind and a gift for rhetoric. He began his career as a schoolteacher in Maryland before studying law, being admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1771, and soon after returning to Maryland to establish his legal practice. From the outset, Martin was drawn to the revolutionary fervor of his time. He became an outspoken patriot, serving on Maryland’s patriot committee in 1774 and later attending a convention in Annapolis to support the American independence movement. His legal acumen earned him the position of Maryland’s attorney general in 1778, a role he would hold for an astonishing 28 years.

During the American Revolution, Martin’s commitment to the Patriot cause was unwavering. As Maryland’s attorney general, he aggressively prosecuted Loyalists, ensuring that those who aligned with the British faced legal repercussions. His role extended beyond the courtroom; he was an active participant in shaping the legal framework of the fledgling nation. By the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Martin had established himself as a staunch defender of state sovereignty, a conviction that would define his most notable political stand.

Martin arrived late to the Philadelphia Convention but quickly made his presence felt. He was deeply skeptical of the secrecy under which the proceedings were conducted, believing that the public had a right to know the nature of the debates. He opposed the Virginia Plan, which proposed a strong national government with representation based on population. Martin, along with other small-state delegates, feared that such a system would allow the larger states to dominate national affairs. On June 27, 1787, Martin delivered a three-hour speech dismantling the Virginia Plan, arguing that the system of proportional representation would enable a few large states to control the entire country. His position aligned with the New Jersey Plan, which advocated for equal representation for all states, preserving their sovereignty.

Beyond representation, Martin took a strong stand against the Constitution’s approach to slavery. Although he was a slave owner himself, he denounced the Three-Fifths Compromise, which counted enslaved individuals as three-fifths of a person for representation purposes, as morally indefensible. He argued that it was inconsistent with the ideals of the Revolution and dishonorable to the American character. He believed that slavery had no place in a republic that prided itself on liberty and feared that it would corrupt the nation’s moral foundation. His outspoken opposition to slavery at the Convention placed him among the few voices willing to challenge the South’s entrenched interests on the issue.

As the Convention progressed, Martin became increasingly convinced that the proposed Constitution granted too much power to the central government at the expense of the states. He saw the system as a betrayal of the Revolution’s principles and, along with fellow Maryland delegate John Francis Mercer, walked out of the Convention in September 1787. In the months that followed, he became one of the most vocal opponents of ratification, giving fiery speeches in the Maryland House of Delegates and penning essays warning of the dangers of an overreaching federal government. Though Maryland ultimately ratified the Constitution in April 1788, Martin’s arguments were influential in shaping the subsequent debate over the Bill of Rights.

Following the ratification of the Constitution, Martin continued his legal career with vigor. He played a pivotal role in two of the most significant legal cases of his time. In 1805, he successfully defended Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase during his impeachment trial, preserving judicial independence against what many saw as a politically motivated attack by Thomas Jefferson’s administration. Two years later, he joined Aaron Burr’s defense team in the infamous treason trial, helping to secure Burr’s acquittal. His legal prowess was widely respected, though his abrasive personality and penchant for long-winded oratory often tested the patience of judges and colleagues alike.

Despite his early opposition to centralized power, Martin’s political views evolved in the latter part of his life. Initially an anti-Federalist, he became disillusioned with Jeffersonian Republicanism and ultimately aligned himself with the Federalist Party. His involvement in the landmark case McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) illustrated his commitment to state authority. Representing Maryland, he argued that the state had the right to tax the Second Bank of the United States, a case that ultimately resulted in a Supreme Court ruling strengthening federal power—a bitter irony for a man who had spent his life championing states’ rights.

Martin’s later years were marred by personal decline. Known for his drinking habits throughout his life, his alcoholism worsened, and by the 1820s, his health had deteriorated. He suffered a stroke in 1820, leading to paralysis, and resigned as Maryland’s attorney general in 1822. His financial situation also crumbled, leaving him impoverished and dependent on the charity of friends. In a final twist of fate, he was taken in by Aaron Burr, the man he had once defended in court. He died in Burr’s home in New York City on July 10, 1826, just days after the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. He was buried in an unmarked grave, a quiet and unceremonious end for a man whose voice had once thundered in the halls of power.

Luther Martin’s legacy is complex. He was a man of contradictions—a fierce advocate of liberty who owned slaves, an opponent of federal authority who later defended states’ rights, and a brilliant legal mind whose personal demons undermined his later years. Though history has largely relegated him to the sidelines, his contributions to the founding debates of the United States were significant. His insistence on state sovereignty, his warnings about centralized power, and his moral opposition to slavery place him among the most principled, if often overlooked, figures of the American founding. While he may not have signed the Constitution, he shaped its discourse in ways that continue to resonate in American political thought today.