The first was whether the federal government had the power to incorporate a bank. The answer to this question, the Court ruled, was yes because the Constitution granted Congress implied powers to do whatever was "necessary and proper" to carry out its constitutional powers--in this case, the power to manage a currency.
In a classic statement of "broad" or "loose" construction of the Constitution, Marshall said, "Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consistent with the letter and spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional. Maryland was whether a state had the power to tax a branch of the Bank of the United States. In answer to this question, the Court said no.
The Constitution, the Court asserted, created a new government with sovereign power over the states. During this period, the Supreme Court also encouraged economic competition and development. In Dartmouth v. Woodward the Court promoted business growth by denying states the right to alter or impair contracts unilaterally.
The case involved the efforts of the New Hampshire legislature to alter the charter of Dartmouth College, which had been granted by George III in The Court held that a charter was a valid contract protected by the Constitution and that states do not have the power to alter contracts unilaterally.
In Gibbons v. Ogden , the Court broadened federal power over interstate commerce. The Court overturned a New York law that had awarded a monopoly over steamboat traffic on the Hudson River, ruling that the Constitution had specifically given Congress the power to regulate commerce. Under John Marshall, the Supreme Court established a distribution of constitutional powers that the country still follows.
Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall played a central role in defining the power of the federal and state governments during the early nineteenth century. The three chief justices prior to Marshall had had little influence on the office or the Supreme Court itself. During his year tenure, however, Marshall gave it the energy and weight of the third, co-equal branch of government.
Marshall promoted Federalism and the ideas of the Federalist Party—or the idea of a strong central government—over the opposition of the Jeffersonian Republicans, who wanted increased state sovereignty. His influential rulings shaped American government, making the Supreme Court the final arbiter of Constitutional interpretation. Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull : The expansion of the federal government by the Marshall Court enacted the ideas of Federalist leaders, such as the highly influential Alexander Hamilton.
During his time as chief justice, Marshall ruled in several influential cases that set precedents around issues such as judicial review and federal versus state powers. Because the U. Constitution does not specifically delegate certain powers among the federal and state governments, the issue often has fallen to the judicial branch for resolution. In particular, this question arose in the cases McCulloch v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden, both of which broadly expanded the power and supremacy of the national government.
Marbury v. Madison was a landmark U. The landmark decision helped define the power of the judiciary as a co-equal branch of the government, constitutionally separate from the executive and judicial branches. The case resulted from a petition to the Supreme Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed by President John Adams as justice of the peace in the District of Columbia.
The Court, with Marshall as chief justice, found that Marbury did have a right to his appointment, and that the Judiciary Act of provided him with a remedy known as a writ of mandamus. This was the only time the Marshall Court would strike down an act of Congress; however, that precedent was enough to establish the Court as a co-equal branch by branding it as the final interpreter of the Constitution.
Since the Constitution is the most fundamental law of the country, any government action that the Supreme Court determines to be against the terms of the Constitution is void and nullified. Therefore, in its role as interpreter, the Supreme Court can overrule Congress, the presidents, state governments, and all lower courts.
McCulloch v. Maryland was one of several decisions involving the balance of power between the federal government and individual states in which the Marshall Court affirmed federal supremacy. The state of Maryland had attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland.
Marshall established in the case that states could not tax federal institutions and upheld congressional authority to create the Second Bank of the United States, even though the authority to do this was not expressly stated in the Constitution. Gibbons v. Ogden was a landmark decision in which the Supreme Court held that the power to regulate interstate commerce was granted to Congress by the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Marshall avoided the issue of exclusivity of federal powers over commerce, claiming it was not essential to the case.
Instead, Marshall relied on an existing federal statute for licensing ships in reaching his decision. He held that it was a legitimate exercise of congressional power regulating interstate commerce, and therefore superseded the state law allowing the monopoly. The immediate impact of the Gibbons case resulted in the end of many state-granted monopolies.
That, in turn, lowered prices and promoted free enterprise. Privacy Policy. Skip to main content. Democracy in America: — Search for:. Judicial Nationalism. The Marshall Court The Marshall Court established the legal authority of the Supreme Court over the states and other branches of the federal government. Supreme Court — whose court opinions helped lay the basis for American constitutional law.
When the Federalists lost the presidency and Congress to Democratic- Republicans, President Adams used his last remaining days of power to entrench as many of his political allies in the judiciary branch as he could, including Marshall.
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