The Supreme Court defined the role of federal government in Marbury v. Madison establishing the policy of judicial review, the court has the power to declare acts of Congress unconstitutional should it be inconsistent with the Constitution, this helped check the power of Congress. The Supreme Court defined the role of federal government in McCulloch v. Maryland as supreme over state government.
In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause
of Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution to create the Second Bank
of the United States and that the state of Maryland lacked the power to
tax the Bank. Arguably Chief Justice John Marshall's
finest opinion, McCulloch not only gave Congress broad discretionary
power to implement the enumerated powers, but also repudiated, in
ringing language, the radical states' rights arguments presented by
counsel for Maryland.
At issue in the case was the constitutionality of the act of Congress
chartering the Second Bank of the United States (BUS) in 1816. Although
the Bank was controlled by private stockholders, it was the depository
of federal funds. In addition, it had the authority to issue notes
that, along with the notes of states' banks, circulated as legal tender.
In return for its privileged position, the Bank agreed to loan the
federal government money in lieu of taxes. State banks looked on the
BUS as a competitor and resented its privileged position. When state
banks began to fail in the depression of 1818, they blamed their
troubles on the Bank. One such state was Maryland, which imposed a
hefty tax on "any bank not chartered within the state." The Bank of the
United States was the only bank not chartered within the state. When
the Bank's Baltimore branch refused to pay the tax, Maryland sued James
McCulloch, cashier of the branch, for collection of the debt. McCulloch
responded that the tax was unconstitutional. A state court ruled for
Maryland, and the court of appeals affirmed. McCulloch appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reviewed the case in 1819.
The Constitution is always be accounted for when making laws and is always working with our government to discern right and wrong decisions. You could say that it is always "working" with our government.
The XYZ Affair had a lasting impact on the U.S., even after peace was restored. The U.S. was not at all prepared for a naval battle, so the Department of the Navy was created in 1798 to oversee all naval affairs. Negative feelings about France resulted in the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798
An incident in which french agents attempted to get a bribe and loans from US diplomats in exchange for an agreement that French privateers would no longer attack American ships. It led to an undeclared Naval War between the two countries.
