The Supreme Court Case That Handed America Over to the Bankers
The case was McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).
The legal issue: Could the state of Maryland tax the Second Bank of the United States? It was a private bank.
The issue, as stated by Chief Justice Marshall in
a long, detailed decision, was this: Does the Constitution allow Congress to charter a bank? That was what Congress did in 1791: the [First] Bank of the United States. It was a central bank. Its charter lapsed in 1811.
The Second Bank of the United States was chartered by Congress in 1816.
In 1818, Maryland voted to tax the Bank. The Bank refused to pay. The Supreme Court decided in favor of McCulloch, an agent of the Bank.
Here is the standard version: “The case presented two questions: Did Congress have the authority to establish the bank? Did the Maryland law unconstitutionally interfere with congressional powers?” (
http://www.oyez.org/cases/1792-1850/1819/1819_0) This is the textbook account. It is Marshall’s account.
The historical record does not support this limited description.
Marshall deliberately refused to deal with the central legal issue raised by the state of Maryland. That issue was not whether the Congress had the authority to charter a corporation. Rather, it was this:
Does the United States Constitution authorize Congress to delegate federal sovereignty to a private corporation?
In Marshall’s long decision, he summarized the position of the state of Maryland.
[... more at link ...]
