Changes

Impeachments are the first step in a process to remove by the lower legislative house when an alleged crime has been committed by an official, often during their tenure. History also shows that it is possible to remove an official for a crime committed before they entered office. William Blount (Figure 1) was the first elected official who was impeached. He was a senator from Tennesse and in 1797 was impeached for conspiring with Great Britain to wage war and capture Spanish territory so that his real estate ventures would benefit. The senator was a known land speculator who had purchased territory in western Tennessee and other surroundings. He had over purchased and was in debt, thus to raise the land's value he tried to have Great Britain seize territory in Louisiana from Spain, as colonists might be forced to move to areas where he owned land. This backfired on him and the House of Representatives tried to impeach him for conspiring with a foreign state to launch a war between Spain and Great Britain, but ultimately the Senate refused to accept the House's oversight and decision. The Senate did removed him anyway but during this early history of the United States the Senate wanted more separation from the House.<ref>For more on these early trials, see: Melton, B. F. (1998). <i>The first impeachment: the constitution’s framers and the case of Senator William Blount (1st ed)</i>. Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press. </ref>

This decision backfired on him and the House of Representatives tried to impeach him for conspiring with a foreign state to launch a war between Spain and Great Britain, but ultimately the Senate refused to accept the House's oversight and decision. The Senate did remove him anyway but during this early history of the United States the Senate wanted more separation from the House.<ref>For more on these early trials, see: Melton, B. F. (1998). <i>The first impeachment: the constitution’s framers and the case of Senator William Blount (1st ed)</i>. Macon, Ga: Mercer University Press. </ref>  During the time between the founding of the United States and the Civil War, there were just three impeachments, all of whom were judges. Two of these were local district Judges, John Pickering , and James Peck, but one was a chief justice (Samuel Chase). Most of the issues against them had to do with abuse of power, and drunkness in the case of John Pickering. In the case of Samuel Chase, Thomas Jefferson had found him obstructionist in his political agenda after the 1800 election. Although a signatory of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Chase had been known for irregular behavior including using his position in the Contential Congress to improve his business dealings. He was appointed by Washington to the Supreme Court and during the time of Jefferson, the Supreme Court was seen as a threat to seizing too much power.