# Bushrod Washington *Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1798–1829* Bushrod Washington (June 5, 1762 – November 26, 1829) was an American lawyer and politician. He sat as an associate justice of the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] from 1798 until his death in 1829. He was a nephew of President George Washington and inherited his uncle's papers and the [[Mount Vernon]] estate. On the Court he was a consistent ally of Chief Justice [[John Marshall]].[^1] In the Minnesota record, Washington appears as the author of the circuit opinion in *Corfield v. Coryell*, 6 F. Cas. 546 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1823). The project's Theory 11 claim rows (Privileges or Immunities Clause / Slaughter-House Inversion) cite that opinion as the foundational definition of "privileges and immunities" as "fundamental" rights.[^2] The record holds no Minnesota instrument that names him. Washington co-founded the American Colonization Society and served as its president. The Society promoted the emigration of formerly enslaved people to Africa. He was also an enslaver. A 1787 Virginia tax census recorded nine adults and 25 children enslaved by him in Westmoreland County, and nine adults and four children in Berkeley County.[^1] His uncle's will required support for elderly formerly enslaved people at Mount Vernon. Washington did not provide that support. Over time he sold many enslaved people, stating that the sales would sustain the main house, the property, and those same elderly people.[^1] ## Early life Washington was born on June 5, 1762, at Bushfield Manor, a plantation at Mount Holly in Westmoreland County, Virginia. His parents were John Augustine Washington, a brother of George Washington, and Hannah Bushrod.[^1] After private tutoring, he graduated from the College of William & Mary in 1778, at age 16. In the summer of 1780 he returned to Williamsburg to read law under George Wythe and became the 41st member of Phi Beta Kappa. There he also met John Marshall.[^1] In 1781 he enlisted in the Continental Army as a private of dragoons in Colonel John Francis Mercer's cavalry. After the war he studied law in Philadelphia under [[James Wilson (Founding Father)]], with the cost paid by his uncle. He finished those studies in April 1784.[^1] ## Legal and political careers Washington opened a law office in Westmoreland County and practiced privately from 1784 to 1798. In 1789 he and his wife moved into a newly built house at 521 Duke Street in Alexandria, Virginia.[^1] In 1787 Westmoreland County voters elected him to the Virginia House of Delegates. The next year he sat in the Virginia Ratifying Convention and voted to ratify the U.S. Constitution.[^1] He published a two-volume *Reports of the Virginia Court of Appeals, 1790–96*, which his biography dates to 1789. With R. Peters, he later published four volumes of decisions of the United States Court for the Third Circuit, 1803–27.[^1] ## Supreme Court of the United States President John Adams gave Washington a recess appointment on September 29, 1798, when he was 36 years old. The appointment filled the seat vacated by James Wilson. Washington took the oath on November 9, 1798. He was formally nominated on December 19, 1798, and the [[United States Senate]] confirmed him the next day.[^1] He remained on the Court until his death in 1829.[^1] Marshall became chief justice in 1801. From then on, Washington's vote diverged from Marshall's only three times, one of them in *Ogden v. Saunders*.[^1] Riding circuit in Pennsylvania, he wrote the opinion in *Corfield v. Coryell*.[^2] That opinion enumerated rights he considered fundamental "privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States."[^1] ## Planter and George Washington's executor The 1787 census that recorded Washington's enslaved workforce also listed nine horses and 59 cattle on his Westmoreland County holdings. The work there was supervised by an overseer.[^1] Around 1795 he bought Belvidere, the former Richmond estate of William Byrd III. He sold it on his appointment to the Court in 1798.[^1] George Washington died in December 1799. His will left Mount Vernon to Bushrod Washington and named him an executor. Bushrod Washington took possession of the estate in 1802, after the death of Martha Washington. With Marshall's help, he published a biography of the first president.[^1] ## Enslaver and American Colonization Society president At the request of their mother, Hannah Bushrod, Washington and his brothers freed West Ford. Ford had been born in Westmoreland County in 1784 to Venus, a woman enslaved by Hannah Bushrod. Ford later became overseer of the enslaved domestic workers at Mount Vernon. Bushrod Washington's own will gave land to Ford.[^1] The Mount Vernon estate held little cash. Washington kept up the mansion with income from the property and with his Supreme Court salary. He did not support the elderly formerly enslaved people as his uncle's will directed, and he sold many enslaved people over time.[^1] He co-founded the American Colonization Society and served as its president.[^1] ## Other memberships The American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia elected Washington a member in 1805. The American Antiquarian Society, founded in 1812, admitted him in 1813.[^1] ## Death and legacy Washington died in Philadelphia on November 26, 1829, while riding circuit. His wife died two days later while transporting his body for burial. Both are interred in the Washington family tomb at Mount Vernon.[^1] In 1830, U.S. District Judge Joseph Hopkinson published a memorial to him. Much of Washington's correspondence is believed to have burned after his death.[^1] Bushrod Island, near Monrovia, Liberia, bears his name because of his role in the Society and in the founding of Liberia.[^1] ## In the Minnesota record The record's pinned framing row is a [[United States Department of Justice]] release, No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026). It is titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, and Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^3] The pack does not carry the docket or current status of that action. The record does not connect Washington or *Corfield* to it. ### Who - Bushrod Washington, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1798–1829.[^1] ### What - Author of the opinion in *Corfield v. Coryell*, 6 F. Cas. 546, which the project's [[Minnesota]] record pairs with Theory 11 as the foundational definition of "privileges and immunities."[^2] ### When - 1823, the year of the *Corfield* opinion.[^2] ### Where - The U.S. Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (C.C.E.D. Pa.), where *Corfield* was decided.[^2] ### How - The record links the *Corfield* definition to Theory 11 (Privileges or Immunities Clause / Slaughter-House Inversion). The pairing is one of the project's validated claim:link pairs.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Bushrod Washington* (rev. 1379026884, retrieved Oct. 26, 2026; CC BY-SA 4.0) — biography, Court service, slaveholding, executorship, death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushrod_Washington [^2]: Library of Congress, as cited in project claim row CL-Theory11PrivilegesorImmu-5, *Corfield v. Coryell*, 6 F. Cas. 546 (C.C.E.D. Pa. 1823) — Washington's definition of "privileges and immunities" as "fundamental" rights; Theory 11 pairing. https://www.loc.gov/ [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — title of the release; Attorney General's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime