Facts
Maryland taxed notes issued by banks not chartered by the state, aiming at the Second Bank of the United States (chartered 1816). Baltimore branch cashier James McCulloch refused to pay.
📌 At a glance
- Year
- 1819
- Opinion
- Chief Justice John Marshall
- Clause
- Art. I, § 8, cl. 18
Holdings
- Under the Necessary and Proper Clause, “necessary” means useful or conducive, not indispensable, so Congress has implied powers to charter a bank.
- Under the Supremacy Clause, a state may not tax a federal instrumentality.
Marshall’s most quoted line: “the power to tax involves the power to destroy.” He also reminded readers that “it is a constitution we are expounding.”
Legacy
It remains a cornerstone of federalism doctrine alongside Marbury v. Madison.
Frequently asked questions
- What are implied powers?
- Powers not listed but reasonably related to enumerated ones.
- Was federal power made unlimited?
- No; ends must be legitimate and means not prohibited.
References
- McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819).
- U.S. Constitution, Art. I, § 8, cl. 18 (Necessary and Proper Clause) (Legal Information Institute, law.cornell.edu).
- Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1 (1824).