In 1789, The Supreme Court was signed into law by Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. The Supreme Court has the highest authority over all laws within the United States and is responsible for assessing the constitutionality of those laws. Made up of nine justices, the Supreme Court is the highest federal court in the country and head of the Judicial branch of the government. They also act as a balancing power for the other two branches of the government—the executive branch and the president and the legislative branch and Congress—in order to make sure they do nothing unconstitutional.
Something I didn't know before researching the Supreme Court was that there weren't always nine justices. In fact, the number has changed multiple times. When it was signed into power, there were only 6 justices. At the time, the justices spent most of the year traveling because they were also appointed to sit on the federal circuit court, of which there were 13 in 1789, one for each state. The traveling conditions were dreadful so to limit the distance each justice would have to travel, the Judiciary Act of 1789 divided all the circuit courts into three districts, eastern, central, and southern.
The reason for 6 justices was so that there could be 2 justices in each of the 3 districts. With 6 being an even number, it also felt odd because split decisions could cause ties. This was never seen as an issue because all the justices were Federalists and the thought was that there would never be any disagreement. Also, it was likely that not all 6 justices were present at the Supreme Court due to health or travel issues.
This number of justices has changed a few times over the next 80 or so years, mostly for political gain. John Adams helped pass the Judiciary Act of 1801, which reduced the number of justices from 6 to 5, but it was quickly repealed by Thomas Jefferson and Congress and the number went back to 6. During the Civil war, the number of justices increased to 9. Almost as soon as that, Abraham Lincoln added a 10th justice. After the Civil War, the number was dropped to 7 before Congress, in 1869, added 2 more justices, setting the number of justices to 9, where it remains today.
While researching about the justices specifically, I found some interesting facts. Justice William O. Douglas has served the longest of any other justice, serving for 36 years, 7 months, and 8 days. He was appointed in 1939 and retired in 1975. William Howard Taft is the only person to have been president and also serve as a justice, serving as president from 1909-1913 and appointed as justice in 1921. The first African American to have served as a justice in the Supreme Court is Thurgood Marshall, being appointed in 1967. The first female to have served is Sandra Day O'Connor, appointed in 1981. Lastly, as of January 2021, a total of 115 people have served as justices in the Supreme Court.