fieldston american reader volume i – fall 2007 - Ethical Culture ...

I sec.8, Congress has also been granted the power “to makeall laws which shall be necessary and power for carrying intoexecution” the expressed powers in the Constitution. Therefore,by incorporating a bank, Congress is creating the means toattain the goals of the powers entrusted to it. “let the end belegitimate, let it be within the scope of the Constitution, andall means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted tothat end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letterand spirit of the Constitution, are constitutional.” The powerto tax involves the power to destroy, and a state cannot havethis power over legitimate constitutional rights exercised by thefederal government. The tax levied by Maryland was thereforeunconstitutional.IMPORTANCE: This was the first time the SupremeCourt declared that an act passed by a state legislature wasunconstitutional. The Supreme Court also accepted thedoctrine of implied powers.JOHN MARSHALL EXPOUNDS THECONSTITUTIONIf any one proposition could command the universal assent ofmankind, we might expect it to be this: that the government ofthe Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within itssphere of action. This would seem to result necessarily from itsnature. It is the government of all; its powers are delegated byall; it represents all, and acts for all. Though any one State maybe willing to control its operations, no State is willing to allowothers to control them. The nation, on those subjects on whichit can act, must necessarily bind its component parts. But thisquestion is not left to mere reason: the people have, in expressterms, decided it, by saying, “this Constitution, and the laws ofthe United States, which shall be made in pursuance thereof,”“shall be the supreme law of the land,” and by requiring thatthe members of the State legislatures, and the officers of theexecutive and judicial departments of the States, shall take theoath of fidelity to it.The government of the United States, then, though limited inits powers, is supreme; and its laws, when made in pursuance ofthe Constitution, form the supreme law of the land, “anythingin the constitution or laws of any State to the contrarynotwithstanding.”McCulloch V. Maryland, 18193. DARTMOUTH COLLEGE V. WOODWARD (1819)In 1769 Dartmouth College was chartered by the Englishmonarch. In 1816 the state legislature of New Hampshirepassed a law completely reorganizing the government of thecollege and changing the name to Dartmouth University.The former trustees of the college brought an action againstWoodward, who was secretary and treasurer of the college.The state decided against the former trustees and they appealedthe case to the Supreme Court.DECISION: The original charter granted by England was acontract, “a contract for the security and disposition of property....It is then a contract within the letter of the Constitution, andwithin its spirit also.” The act of 1816 by the New Hampshirelegislature substantially impaired the operations of the collegeas originally intended by the founders, and thereby violatesArt.I, sec.l0. It is therefore unconstitutional.IMPORTANCE: Charters are contracts, and the Constitutionprotected contracts against state encroachments. Thus businessenterprises (which are chartered by the states) are protectedby their charters. This made it easy for business to grow, butdifficult for states to regulate abuses by business. Since thestates lacked adequate power the federal government steppedinto this area, starting with control of the railroads in 1886.4. GIBBONS v. OGDEN (1824)New York State gave exclusive navigation rights to all waterwithin the jurisdiction of the state to R.R. Livingston andR. Fulton, who in turn assigned Ogden the right to operatebetween New York City and New Jersey ports. Gibbonsowned two steamships running between Elizabethtown andNew York, which were licensed under Act of Congress. Ogdenobtained an injunction against Gibbons, who appealed.DECISION: Only the Federal Government can regulatecommerce between two states (in this case, on the HudsonRiver), as stated in Art.I, sec.8. When state law and federallaw come into conflict, federal law must be supreme.IMPORTANCE: “commerce” was interpreted broadly,to mean both goods and people. States were limited in theirrights to control commerce because the Constitution delegatedthat power to Congress. This was the first case to go to theCourt under the commerce clause.JOHN MARSHALL EXPOUNDS THECONSTITUTIONThis instrument contains an enumeration of powers expresslygranted by the people to their government. It has been saidthat these powers ought to be construed strictly. But whyought they to be so construed? Is there one sentence in theConstitution which gives contenance to this rule? In the last ofthe enumerated powers, that which grants, expressly, the meansfor carrying all others into execution, Congress is authorized“to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper” for thepurpose. But this limitation on the means which may be usedis not extended to the powers which are conferred; nor is thereone sentence in the Constitution, which has been pointed out209