The Schooner Exchange, owned by John McFaddon and William Greetham, sailed from Baltimore, Maryland, on October 27, 1809, for San Sebastián, Spain.

[2] Moreover, Marshall also noted that, under customary international law, jurisdiction was presumed to be waived in a number of situations.

For instance, visiting foreign sovereigns and their diplomatic representatives were generally free from the jurisdiction of domestic courts.

[4] That custom was established so firmly and necessarily for international relations that it would be wrongful for a country to violate it without prior notice.

[5] Marshall further noted that while the right of free passage by an army usually had to be explicitly granted, by maritime custom a nation's ports were presumptively open to all friendly ships.