Court : US Supreme Court
Decided on : Jan-01-1819
Trustees of Dartmouth Coll. v. Woodward - 17 U.S. 518 (1819) U.S. Supreme Court Trustees of Dartmouth Coll. v. Woodward, 17 U.S. 4 Wheat. 518 518 (1819) Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 518 ERROR TO THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Syllabus The charter granted by the British Crown to the trustees of Dartmouth College, in New Hampshire, in the year 1769, is a contract within the meaning of that clause of the Constitution of the United States, art. 1, s. 10, which declares that no state shall make any law impairing the obligation of contracts. The charter was not dissolved by the Revolution. An act of the State Legislature of New Hampshire altering the charter without the consent of the corporation in a material respect, is an act impairing the obligation of the charter, and is unconstitutional and void. Under its charter, Dartmouth College was a private, and not a public, corporation. That a corporation is established for purposes o...
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