Hepburn vs Griswold was one of the 'legal-tender cases' in the US Supreme Court, decided 1864. In 1860 Mrs. Hepburn promised to pay Griswold on February 20th, 1862, $11,250, legal tender at that time (1860) being gold and silver only. In 1862, during the American Civil War, the United States issued $150,000,000 of its own notes to be received as lawful money in payment of public and private debts within the United States. Mrs. Hepburn's note being overdue, suit was brought by Griswold in the Court of Chancery of Kentucky in 1864. Mrs. Hepburn tendered United States notes in payment, which were refused, though the court declared the debt absolved. The Court of Appeals reversed this judgment, and, it being brought to the US Supreme Court, that body confirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, on the ground that the Act of 1862 was not intended to impair contracts made prior to its passage. This decision was reversed in Knox vs Lee and Julliard vs Greenman. Research Hepburn Vs. Griswold
Knocx Vs Lee was an american legal-tender case brought before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1870 by writ of error from the CircuitCourt of Texas. A flock of sheep, belonging to Mrs Lee, of Pennsylvania, had been seized by the Confederate authorities and sold to Knox for Confederate money. Mrs Lee brought suit for recovery and demanded payment in gold or silver, though at the time of the sale greenbacks were deemed legal tender. The defendant objected and the court sustained the objection, saying there was no difference in value in law between the two. Judgment was found for the plaintiff and was confirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States. This decision overruled in part that given in the case of'Hepburn Vs Griswold. Research Knox Vs Lee
In America, after the breaking out of the American Civil War the American Congress was compelled, in 1862, to issue $150,000,000 in Treasury notes, and made them legal tender for payment of private debts and all public dues except duties on imports and interest on the public debt. These notes became the circulating medium to a large extent. The constitutional validity of these Legal-Tender Acts was strongly contested, especially in their application to debts contracted prior to their passage. Their constitutionality was generally maintained by the State courts, however. In 1869, this question came before the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Hepburn Vs Griswold. The validity of the acts was in this instance maintained only in so far as it did not affect the obligations of contracts made prior to their passage. A year later, in the case of Knox Vs Lee, this decision was overruled, and the constitutionality of the act was upheld in its applicability to pre-existing debts, though by a majority of the court only. The composition of the court had meantime been altered, two new Judges having been appointed. Research Legal-Tender Cases
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