American Insurance Company v. 356 Bales of Cotton
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued March 8, 10–11, 1828 Decided March 15, 1828
Full case name	The American Insurance Company, and The Ocean Insurance Company, (of New-York,) v. 356 Bales of Cotton, David Canter
Citations	26 U.S. 511 (more) 1 Pet. 511; 7 L. Ed. 242; 1828 WL 2951 (U.S.S.C.)
Case history
Prior	From the Circuit Court of the United States, District of South Carolina
Court membership
Chief Justice John Marshall Associate Justices Bushrod Washington · William Johnson Gabriel Duvall · Joseph Story Smith Thompson · Robert Trimble
Case opinion
Majority	Marshall, joined by 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.