The new U.S. Supreme Court did not have its own building or the immense power it has today. In 1793 it issued a decision named ''Chisholm v. Georgia'' which allowed, for the first time, a lawsuit to be filed against a state in the new federal courts by a citizen of ''a different'' state. This outraged the states and was considered an "activist" decision by the Supreme Court, because it subjected a state to the judicial power of the new national government. Proving how little respect there was for the new Supreme Court, within two years Congress passed and more than 3/4th of the states ratified the [[Eleventh Amendment]] to the Constitution specifically to overturn this decision. This illustrated a type of "check and balance" on Supreme Court power: the power of the People to amend the Constitution to overturn a bad Supreme Court decision. Including the Bill of Rights, there have been a total of 27 amendments to the Constitution, a few of which were motivated by a desire to overturn a bad Supreme Court decision. Notice that Congress cannot overrule the Supreme Court if the Court bases its decision in the Constitution itself; an amendment to the Constitution is then the only way to overrule a Supreme Court decision that is based in the Constitution.
==The Two-Party System==
The "two-party" system developed as part of the political struggle between rivals to take power after George Washington. On one side were farmers, people in debt (debtors), and rural America, who were led by future Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. On the other side were the bankers, manufacturers and cities (urban interests), which were led by Alexander Hamilton and John Adams. Jefferson sided with farmers, while Hamilton sided with manufacturers, and they opposed each other often during the Washington Administration.
The split between those loyal to England and those loyal to France also fed into the new two-party system. Jefferson favored France, while Adams favored England. They had previously been diplomats to those countries.
George Washington disfavored political parties, and in a sense was "above" them. But today many consider political parties to be essential to give voters a real choice in elections rather than having candidates adopting the same positions as each other, which would deprive voters a real choice on Election Day.
==The Presidency of John Adams==