Sometimes known as the Judiciary Act of 1875 in recognition of its sweeping importance, this statute for the first time conferred on federal courts both original and removal jurisdiction that was coextensive with the constitutional grant over federal questions. Article III conveys jurisdiction over “all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties.” The First Congress chose, however, to vest federal question jurisdiction primarily in the state courts and permitted only limited appeal of federal questions from state courts to the Supreme Court. It also created a narrow right of pretrial removal from state to federal courts.
Expansion of federal question and removal jurisdiction went hand in hand throughout the nineteenth century. The growth of national power during the Civil War included an expansion of the jurisdiction of federal courts as a necessary concomitant to the increase in federal substantive powers created by the Reconstruction Amendments. This trend culminated in the Removal Act of 1875, which empowered federal courts to take concurrent jurisdiction of civil suits “arising under the Constitution or laws of the United States, or treaties.” The statute also greatly expanded removal jurisdiction, extending it to plaintiffs as well as defendants. The Judiciary Act of 1887 completed the work of the 1875 act by unifying the requirements of removal and original federal jurisdiction. Because of these statutes, federal courts became for the first time the primary forums for vindicating rights secured by the United States Constitution.
.
See also Judicial Power and Jurisdiction
— William M. Wiecek
