Tuesday, May 25, 2010

McCulloch Vs. Maryland - Who was McCulloch?

I am doing research on landmark cases of John Marshall. I believe now that I understand the case 'McCulloch Vs. Maryland'. However, I cannot seem to find who Mr. McCulloch actually was.

My understanding of the case is this (this is very basic, i know there are more details and I didn't mention years, but I won't bore you):

In Maryland, the state government imposed a tax on all out-of-state banks. However, the only out of state bank at that time was the Second Bank of the United States, a federal bank. Therefore, there was a state tax on a federal bank.

My question at this point is who exactly sued who - I assume that Mr. McCulloch was a representative of the US Bank, and sued the state of Maryland? Am I wrong in that assumption?

Anyway, Maryland argued in the case that it was unconstitutional for Congress to make a US bank because it was not a power given to them by the Constitution. however, the 'necessary and proper clause', or Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution
Answer:
James William McCulloch was a cashier at the bank. If you read the decision from the US Supreme Court, you would find it there right in the first few paragraphs.
Probably some random federal government official, maybe from the now defunct national bank.

No comments:

Post a Comment

 
vc .net