Early Life
Henry Baldwin was born on January 14, 1780, in New Haven, Connecticut. Baldwin attended Hopkins School for his primary education and went on to earn his Bachelor’s Degree from Yale University in 1797. Following graduation, Baldwin studied law in Pennsylvania and was admitted to the bar in 1798. He began a private practice in Pittsburgh shortly afterward.
Baldwin was elected to the United States Congress in 1816 as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. In this post Baldwin was a strong supporter of tariff legislature and played a large role in the Missouri Compromise, which regulated slavery in the western territories. Baldwin served in Congress for six years, including one term as Chairman of the House Committee on Domestic Manufactures. He resigned in 1822 due to health concerns.
Supreme Court
Following his departure from Congress, Baldwin resumed his legal practice in Pennsylvania. He became a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson in the Presidential election of 1828.
President Jackson nominated Baldwin to serve on the United States Supreme Court in 1830 to fill the vacant seat of Justice Bushrod Washington. Baldwin officially began his post on January 6, 1830.
During the first year of his time on the Supreme Court, Justice Baldwin expressed his discontent with the Court’s extension of its powers. This caused him to nearly resign from his post in 1831. However, President Jackson convinced him to stay on the court, and Justice Baldwin went on to serve for another thirteen years.
Justice Baldwin voiced his opinion on matters regarding slavery in several cases. In both Johnson v. Tompkins (1833) and Groves v. Slaughter (1841), Baldwin acknowledged that although slavery is not entirely in line with natural rights and justice, the court must respect the legal status of slavery. Justice Baldwin issued the lone dissent in the 1841 United States v. The Amistad case, in which the majority opinion ruled to free Africans aboard a Spanish vessel.
In 1837 Justice Baldwin published an influential work titled A General View of the Origin and Nature of the Constitution and Government of the United States. In this work Baldwin expressed his support of the middle ground between states’ right and nationalism.
Death
Justice Baldwin suffered from paralysis, among other health issues, in his later years. He served on the Supreme Court until his death on April 21, 1844, at the age of 64.
Notable Cases:
Johnson v. Tompkins (1833)
United States v. The Amistad (1841)
Groves v. Slaughter (1841)
