Show
Recommended textbook solutionsAmerican Government1st EditionGlen Krutz 412 solutions Government in America: Elections and Updates Edition16th EditionGeorge C. Edwards III, Martin P. Wattenberg, Robert L. Lineberry 269 solutions
American Corrections11th EditionMichael D. Reisig, Todd R. Clear 160 solutions Criminal Justice in America9th EditionChristina Dejong, Christopher E. Smith, George F Cole 105 solutions Get help with accessInstitutional accessAccess to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways: IP based accessTypically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account. Sign in through your institutionChoose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth / Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator. Sign in with a library cardEnter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian. Society MembersSociety member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways: Sign in through society siteMany societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society. Sign in using a personal accountSome societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below. Personal accountA personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions. Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. Viewing your signed in accountsClick the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access contentOxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian. Institutional account managementFor librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more. Introduction The United States is a government of enumerated powers. Congress, and the other two branches of the federal government, can only exercise those powers given in the Constitution. The powers of Congress are enumerated in several places in the Constitution. The most important listing of congressional powers appears in Article I, Section 8 (see left) which identifies in seventeen paragraphs many important powers of Congress. The last paragraph of Article I, Section 8 grants to Congress the power "to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers"--the "Necessary and Proper Clause." The proper interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause was the subject of a heated debate between such important figures as Alexander Hamilton (who argued that the clause should be read broadly to authorize the exercise of many implied powers) and Thomas Jefferson (who argued that "necessary" really meant necessary). Hamilton's more flexible interpretation makes possible a strong central government, whereas Jefferson's narrower interpretation strengthens states' rights. The Bank of the United States in Philadelphia. Alexander Hamilton argued that the Constitution's implied powers authorized its creation. The famous case of McCulloch vs Maryland considered whether Article I, Section 8 gave Congress the power to create a national bank and, if so, whether the state of
Maryland could tax it. For nine days, Daniel Webster and former Constitutional Convention delegate Luther Martin jargued the case before the justices of the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Marshall, writing for the Court, found the Necessary and Proper Clause gave Congress the flexibility to create the bank as an aid to carrying out its enumerated borrowing and taxing powers and that Maryland's taxation of the bank violated the Supremacy Clause. U. S. vs Gettysburg Elec. Ry. Co. (1896) considered whether Congress had the power to condemn a railroad's land in what was to be Gettysburg National Military Park. Writing for the Court, Justice Peckham found that the power to condemn the railroad's land was implied by the powers of Congress to declare war and equip armies because creation of the park "tends to quicken and strenghten" the motives
of the citizen to defend "the institutions of his country."
Skipping forward more than a century to the modern era, we see the Court in U. S. v Comstock (2010) give an especially broad
reading to the Necessary and Proper Clause. In Comstock, the Court upheld a federal law that authorized the continuing detainment, under a civil commitment program, of potentially dangerous sexual offenders who had completed their prison terms. The Court found the law "reasonably adapted" to a "legitimate" and constitutional end of government, and therefore to be constitutionally supported by the Necessary and Proper Clause. Writing for the Court, Justice Breyer
said the fact that the law was several steps removed from any of the enumerated powers of Article I was not fatal. Justices Thomas and Scalia dissented, arguing that the law "executes no enumerated power," and was therefore unconstitutional. Key Constitutional Grants Article I, Section. 8. The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; To establish Post Offices and post Roads; To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; To provide and maintain a Navy; To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
1. The
alternative to a government of enumerated powers is, of course, a government of unenumerated powers. The Constitution might have said "Congress shall have all powers not specifically prohibited elsewhere in this Constitution." What are the advantages and disadvantages of each system? What role did McCulloch v. Maryland play in this evolution?The decision in McCulloch v. Maryland enhanced federal power and gave the federal government ways to achieve the responsibilities that were given to it in the Constitution. Second, federalism is a system of shared power between state governments and the national government, but the decision in McCulloch v.
How did McCulloch v. Maryland impact?The decision in McCulloch had a profound effect on cases involving state vs. federal power. The doctrine of implied powers created by the court became a powerful tool for the federal government. The case established, once and for all, that when state and federal laws are in conflict, the federal law always wins.
Did Maryland unconstitutionally interfere with Congressional powers?In a unanimous decision, the Court held that Congress had the power to incorporate the bank and that Maryland could not tax instruments of the national government employed in the execution of constitutional powers. Pursuant to the Necessary and Proper Clause (Art.
How did McCulloch v. Maryland help define state and federal powers?Maryland that Congress had the authority to establish a federal bank, and that the financial institution could not be taxed by the states. But the decision carried a much larger significance, because it helped establish that the Constitution gave Congress powers that weren't explicitly spelled out in the document.
|