720
Opinion of the Court
Justice Iredell dissented, relying on American history, id., at 434-435, English history, id., at 437-446, and the principles of enumerated powers and separate sovereignty, id., at 435-436, 448, 449-450. See generally Hans, 134 U. S., at 12 ("The other justices were more swayed by a close observance of the letter of the Constitution, without regard to former experience and usage . . . . Justice Iredell, on the contrary, contended that it was not the intention to create new and unheard of remedies, by subjecting sovereign States to actions at the suit of individuals, (which he conclusively showed was never done before,) but only . . . to invest the federal courts with jurisdiction to hear and determine controversies and cases, between the parties designated, that were properly susceptible of litigation in courts").
The Court's decision "fell upon the country with a profound shock." 1 C. Warren, The Supreme Court in United States History 96 (rev. ed. 1926); accord, Hans, supra, at 11; Principality of Monaco v. Mississippi, 292 U. S. 313, 325 (1934); Seminole Tribe, 517 U. S., at 69. "Newspapers representing a rainbow of opinion protested what they viewed as an unexpected blow to state sovereignty. Others spoke more concretely of prospective raids on state treasuries." D. Currie, The Constitution in Congress: The Federalist Period 1789-1801, p. 196 (1997).
The States, in particular, responded with outrage to the decision. The Massachusetts Legislature, for example, denounced the decision as "repugnant to the first principles of a federal government," and called upon the Commonwealth's Senators and Representatives to take all necessary steps to "remove any clause or article of the . . . Constitution, which can be construed to imply or justify a decision, that, a State is compellable to answer in any suit by an individual or individuals in any Court of the United States." 15 Papers of Alexander Hamilton 314 (H. Syrett & J. Cooke eds. 1969) (internal quotation marks omitted). Georgia's response was more intemperate: Its House of Representatives passed a bill
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