James McCulloch
v.
State of Maryland
17 U.S. 316
Supreme Court of the United States
Certiorari to the Maryland Court of Appeals
Decided March 6, 1819
Facts and Procedural History: The facts of the case are as followed:
The second bank of the United States was chartered by Congress in the year 1816, but because of that, two states prohibited the bank from operating inside of their boarders. Now that the state of Maryland made it known that it did not want that National Bank, in 1818, the Maryland legislature made a tax on loan operation of Baltimore Branch on the second bank of the U.S. So one of the workers, James McCulloch refused to pay tax. He took it to court in which he lost in Baltimore County court, and affirmed by Maryland’s court
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McCulloch then appealed to the Maryland Court of appeals and was still found guilty. Lastly, McCulloch appealed to SCOTUS.
Arguments Heard by the Court:
McCulloch:
This side mainly argued that making a national bank is not stated in the U.S. Constitution, but it is an implied power. But the main argument that was used by Daniel Weber is that if Maryland was able to tax the bank, Maryland would take abuse.
Maryland:
The main argument stated by Luther Martin, who represented Maryland, was that creating the National Bank was not stated in the Constitution. He also argued that if something like a national bank is within their borders, they have a right to tax them.
Justice Stephanie Burgos delivered the opinion of the Court: We granted certiorari in this case to determine:
1. Did Congress have the power not specifically given in the Constitution?
2. Did the state government have the right to refuse a national government law?
After careful review and consideration, we
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In response to this, “The Maryland legislature responded to this action by levying a tax on all branches of banks “not chartered by the legislature”—a move aimed at destroying the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States."1James McCulloch who was a banker at the branch in Baltimore refused to pay the annual tax. He was convicted by Maryland state court and fined a total of 2,500 dollars. Losing at the state
Super Founding Bros™ The 2nd chapter consists of a dinner held by Thomas Jefferson to discuss issues of debt and the placement of the nation’s capital. It starts off with Hamilton telling Jefferson about his financial plan reaching a congressional stalemate and that James Madison was the leader of the opposing congressional faction. Jefferson offered to host a dinner for Hamilton and Madison so that they could resolve the issue through conversation. The problem is solved when Madison agrees to not pressure the other congressmen into voting against the financial plan and Hamilton will in turn try to locate the nation’s capital along the Potomac river which would be beneficial to the southern states of which Madison is a part.
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Woodrow Wilson once referred to the Supreme Court as “a constant constitutional convention in continuous session”, due to the role they have played in interpreting the constitution as it is written. Due to the ambiguity found in much of the phrasing in the constitution, judicial interpretation of the constitution can be considered both necessary and inevitable (Comer, Gruhl et al., 2001). The courts have the power to declare unconstitutional the actions of the other branches and units of the government in what is known as judicial review (Tannahil, 2002). The first case in which the court elaborated on the principle of judicial review was that of Marbury v. Madison in 1803 and put forward that in the case of conflict between the constitution and a statute, it is “the duty of the judicial department to say what the law is” (Smith, 1975). Following this, the case of Fletcher v Peck (1810) is of equal importance as it was the first case in which a state law was declared by the court to be unconstitutional.
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He had to pay the $15,000 annual tax and refused. McCulloch was fined $2,500 when a Maryland court convicted him. He went to the Maryland Court of Appeals and failed there, and then he went to the United States Supreme Court in
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Document A: The Rhode Island Assembly wrote a letter to the Congress, addressing them that they don’t agree with placing taxes on imported goods. The Congress wanted to place taxes on imported goods as a source of income, but first, all of the states had to agree with this. This was around the time when the Articles of Confederation were ratified. Their central government was based on the Articles of Confederation; yet, they had weaknesses in some areas. Taxing was one of their weaknesses.
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