''American Insurance Company v. 356 Bales of Cotton'', 26 U.S. (1 Pet.) 511 (1828), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. The case involved the validity of a local court established by Congress in the

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...

whose judges lacked life tenure, as mandated by Article III of the Constitution. Chief Justice John Marshall upheld the courts on the basis of Congress's broad power to enact local laws for territories under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution. The case was later discussed in ''

Dred Scott v. Sandford ''Dred Scott v. Sandford'', 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that held the U.S. Constitution did not extend American citizenship to people of black African descent, enslaved or free; th ...

'', where Chief Justice

Roger Taney Roger Brooke Taney (; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was the fifth chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. Although an opponent of slavery, believing it to be an evil practice, Taney belie ...

distinguished it in holding that Congress could not ban slavery within a territory.

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* * 1828 in United States case law United States Supreme Court cases United States Supreme Court cases of the Marshall Court United States admiralty case law Good Behavior Clause case law United States Constitution Article Three case law United States Constitution Article Four case law United States in rem cases Cotton industry in the United States Florida Territory Legal history of Florida 1828 in Florida Territory {{SCOTUS-case-stub