<P> The Court first convened on February 2 , 1790 , with six judges where only five of its six initial positions were filled . According to historian Fergus Bordewich , in its first session : `` ( T ) he Supreme Court convened for the first time at the Royal Exchange Building on Broad Street , a few steps from Federal Hall . Symbolically , the moment was pregnant with promise for the republic , this birth of a new national institution whose future power , admittedly , still existed only in the eyes and minds of just a few visionary Americans . Impressively bewigged and swathed in their robes of office , Chief Justice John Jay and three associate justices -- William Cushing of Massachusetts , James Wilson of Pennsylvania , and John Blair of Virginia -- sat augustly before a throng of spectators and waited for something to happen . Nothing did . They had no cases to consider . After a week of inactivity , they adjourned until September , and everyone went home . '' </P>
<P> The Court first convened on February 2 , 1790 , with six judges where only five of its six initial positions were filled . According to historian Fergus Bordewich , in its first session : `` ( T ) he Supreme Court convened for the first time at the Royal Exchange Building on Broad Street , a few steps from Federal Hall . Symbolically , the moment was pregnant with promise for the republic , this birth of a new national institution whose future power , admittedly , still existed only in the eyes and minds of just a few visionary Americans . Impressively bewigged and swathed in their robes of office , Chief Justice John Jay and three associate justices -- William Cushing of Massachusetts , James Wilson of Pennsylvania , and John Blair of Virginia -- sat augustly before a throng of spectators and waited for something to happen . Nothing did . They had no cases to consider . After a week of inactivity , they adjourned until September , and everyone went home . '' </P>
how many supreme court justices were there originally
how many supreme court justices were there originally
six
six