preview

Why Did Marshall Increase The Power Of The Federal Government

Decent Essays

During the early 1800s, nationalism flourished in the Supreme Court, where the Chief Justice John Marshall, regularly created rulings that helped to strengthen the federal government and keep the government in people's favors. Marshall was a nationalist, so he viewed Thomas Jefferson and his supporters as a danger to the nation because they were individuals who favored states rights over federal authority. During this period, the Chief Justice Marshall expanded the power of the federal government in three significant court cases.
The first two significant decisions made by the Supreme Court that strengthen the federal government was the Dartmouth College v. Woodward and the McCulloch v. Maryland. Dartmouth College v. Woodward was a decision made in the year of 1819 by the Supreme Court. This case involved a lawsuit that was filed by former trustees against William Woodward. The trustees claimed that New Hampshire was overstepping its legal authority by interfering with the contract of the private institution. After John Marshall heard both opposing sides arguments, the Court declared that the new charter was invalid. He also claimed that the state …show more content…

Maryland; this was a case that declared that it was unconstitutional for the state government to tax the bank of the United States. James McCulloch had refused to pay the state tax. In his perspective, he believed that the states didn’t have the power to tax the national bank. However, Maryland argued that they had the ability to tax any business within their state. This brought into question if the establishment of the National bank was constitutional in the first place. In this law case, the Supreme Court made the final decisions that Congress has the power to create a national bank, and they also declared that Maryland could not tax the national government. The declaration proposed by the Court helped the federal government gained more

Get Access