| Litigants: | American Insurance Company v. 356 Bales of Cotton |
| Arguedate: | March 8 |
| Arguedateb: | 10 |
| Arguedatec: | 11 |
| Argueyear: | 1828 |
| Decidedate: | March 15 |
| Decideyear: | 1828 |
| Fullname: | The American Insurance Company, and The Ocean Insurance Company, (of New-York,) v. 356 Bales of Cotton, David Canter |
| Usvol: | 26 |
| Uspage: | 511 |
| Parallelcitations: | 1 Pet. 511; 7 L. Ed. 242; 1828 WL 2951 (U.S.S.C.) |
| Prior: | From the Circuit Court of the United States, District of South Carolina |
| Majority: | Marshall |
| Joinmajority: | unanimous |
American Insurance Company v. 356 Bales of Cotton, 26 U.S. (1 Pet.) 511 (1828), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. The case involved the validity of a local court established by Congress in the Florida Territory whose judges lacked life tenure, as mandated by Article III of the Constitution. Chief Justice John Marshall upheld the courts on the basis of Congress's broad power to enact local laws for territories under Article IV, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution.[1] The case was later discussed in Dred Scott v. Sandford, where Chief Justice Roger Taney distinguished it in holding that Congress could not ban slavery within a territory.