McCulloch vs. Maryland was one of the first and far most important Supreme Court cases in history. It was a case that was derived on federal power. During this case, the Supreme Court held that Congress had implied powers that were enlisted as the same powers in Article I, Section 8 of the “Necessary and Proper” Clause, which was also known by the name Elastic Clause. This clause gave Congress the power to establish a national bank, since the Constitution does not specifically.
On March 6, 1819, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had implied powers to create a Second Bank of the United States and the state of Maryland lacked the power to tax on the Second Bank. This case, decided by the Supreme Court, asserted national supremacy action in places of constitutionally granted authority. Maryland placed a prohibitive tax on the Second Bank of the United States. When the Maryland courts upheld this law, the Bank, in the name of its Baltimore branch cashier James W. McCulloch, appealed to the Supreme Court (“McCulloch v. Maryland”, par. 1).
Daniel Webster also argued the case with James McCulloch on behalf of the Bank. John Marshall wrote a united opinion of the Court, stating, “Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are not prohibited, are constitutional” (“McCulloch vs. Maryland”, par. 2). Being that the Second Bank was lawful of very specific federal authority, the law in which created the Bank became constitutional under a ruling.
Marshall also pointed out in his statement that under Article VI of the Constitution, “the power to tax includes the power to destroy. Marshall believed that states had no rights to tax, impede, or even control the federal government by any circumstances. He also believed that the law imposed on the Second Bank of the United States shall be unconstitutional and void by all means. John Marshall’s views on certain topics of the McCulloch vs. Maryland case, were based off of Alexander Hamilton’s liberal thoughts (“McCulloch vs. Maryland”, par. 2). In the days before the establishment, there was a single form of paper currency.
Local banks not only made loans but they also issued their own bank notes to serve as daily-use currency, instead of gold and silver coins (“Historical Background”, par. 2). The Second Bank of the United States was authorized to regulate currency of the local banks. It also followed a more cautious policy. Local banks looked to their state legislatures to restrict the Bank of the United States operation (“Historical Background”, par. 2). Throughout the early years of the Republic, power of the federal government had continued to grow simultaneously.
Briefly into the second decade of the Nineteenth Century, cases regarding states’ rights, that most people argued were not ruled accordingly to how they thought, were brought frequently before the Supreme Court. Congress on the Republican side had not renewed the charter for the Second Bank of the United States. The charter ended up expiring in 1811 (“Historical Background”, par. 1). When the War of 1812 stumbled upon the economy of the nation, many banks were starting to collapse. The banks that did survive, were chartered by the States, but they lacked ample credit to induce postwar industrial development.
Many bankers, politicians, and some farmers questioned the loyalty of the bank, when they viewed the bank as their interest in national money. In 1816, when Congress granted the charter to the Second Bank of the United States, it supplied thirty-five million dollars. This was almost equal to onefifth of the capital in Congress (“Historical Background”, par. 1). The overall decision by the Supreme Court, was that Congress did not have the power to bank. Chief Justice John Marshall concluded this decision with his four main arguments in the case.
He first argued that historical practice gave Congress the ower to create the Second Bank. Marshall explained how he thought the historical scenarios at the First Bank would play a major role in contributing to the Second Bank. He believed the First Bank would serve as authority to the Second Bank in order to make it constitutional. The first Congress enacted the bank after great debate and that it was approved by an executive, “with as much persevering talent as any measure has ever experienced, and being supported by arguments which convinced minds as pure and as intelligent as this country can boast” (“Supreme Court decision”, par. 4).
Second, Marshall supported his argument by stating that states preserve extreme sovereignty, being that, they were the ones in which ratified the Constitution. Marshall stated by quote in his argument, “the powers of the general government, it has been said, are delegated by the states, who alone are truly sovereign; and must be exercised in subordination to the states, who alone possess supreme dominion” (“Supreme Court Decision”, par. 5). John believed that it was by the people who confirmed ratification of the Constitution, making the states’ sovereign. Third, John Marshall addressed the powers of Congress in Article 1.
The Court stated these powers before even mentioning any such thing of the “Necessary and Proper” clause. Although Marshall agreed, he didn’t think that Congress should have the power to establish such an important institution. Fourth, he followed the Court on their opinion of the “Necessary and Proper” clause. The Supreme Court wanted to invoke the clause, so Marshall’s thoughts were the same. Doing this permitted Congress to seek an objective that is within its enumerated powers so long as it is rationally related to the objective and not forbidden by the Constitution (“Supreme Court decision”, par. ).
After Marshall gave his input in his argument of the case, the Court rejected Maryland’s overall opinion of the clause. It was told that the word “necessary” in the Necessary and Proper clause meant that Congress could only pass the laws that were related to the execution of the enumerated powers. Overall, John Marshall and the Supreme Court noted that the powers enlisted in the previous clause were powers that were listed within Congress, but they still had their limitations. The significance of McCulloch vs. Maryland was very obvious in my opinion.
It was the first and most important case that was derived on federal power. This case dealt with an issue between the national government and the states’‘. It created a bank based off of the “Necessary and Proper” clause and the “Commerce” clause. John Marshall made some overall marvelous points during the case, which to some people help influenced the Supreme Courts’ decision about the case. Marshall used many of his key points from the Constitution. The Second Bank was created and this helped with the unreg money the states were making or putting into the banks.
With the help of the Second Bank, this helped many individuals with costs in the economy during wartime. The Second Bank stopped people from questioning where their money would be going, since the bank loaned off a ton of money to American citizens. Although, people still were uncertain if the establishment of the Second Bank of the United States was constitutional. This led people into asking if the individual states had the right to tax the bank or even ban it all together from their state (“Significance of McCulloch v.
Maryland”, par. 2). After looking over the rules and clauses involved in this court case, the Supreme Court judges and John Marshall sided with James McCulloch. They all decided on not taxing the local banks because they would then be taxing the federal government, also. It then all boiled down to John Marshall’s statement of, “the power to tax involves the power to destroy. ”
Marshall also said, “but it may with great reason be contended, that a government, entrusted with such ample powers… ust also be entrusted with ample means for their execution. The power being given; it is the interest of the nation to facilitate its execution…. ” (“Significance of McCulloch v. Maryland”, par. 3). Everything Marshall noted to the judges made their decision tremendously easier. This is exactly why it was classified as a unanimous decision in the favor of McCulloch. Although, everything Maryland did during this court case went against the Constitution in more ways than just one. In conclusion, I believe that the overall McCulloch vs.
Maryland case was treated pretty fairly. In my eyes, I see it as a case that was only going by what the rules stated and the Supreme Court only wanted what was best for society during this time. The majority ruling of the case well very well stated I thought. I liked the key points John Marshall stated during his arguments, even though some of them were based off of Alexander Hamilton’s key points. The court case was drawn in a unanimous decision, but the Supreme Court held that Congress had the power to incorporate the bank.
The banks were then incorporated by Congress but the Court decided that no one shall tax on them because that may interfere with the federal and national governments. Again, Maryland could not tax the national government that which was employed in the exemption of constitutional powers. Altogether, the McCulloch vs. Maryland was a court case with remarkable statements and arguments justified. It was derived from Article 1, Section 8 in the Constitution and it implied powers to the Congress in 1819, which then led to the creation of the Second Bank of the United States.
