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Constitutional Law Keyed to Maggs
McCulloch v. Maryland
Citation:
17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316 (1819)
InstructorMatthew Steinberg
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
In 1791, a debate arose about whether Congress had the power to charter a bank. President Washington sought advice from Alexander Hamilton, his Secretary of the Treasury and Thomas Jefferson, his Secretary of State. Congress eventually passed a bill chartering the Bank of the United States as a corporation, and President Washington signed the bill into law. The Bank was owned by private investors and largely dealt with commercial customers. Like other financial institutions, the Bank could make loans and it could take deposits. But the Bank also had a special relationship with the federal government. Some branches of the Bank of the United States did not pay the tax. The federal government claimed that the Bank was a federal instrumentality and thus need not pay the state tax. John James filed this action of debt against the Cashier of the Baltimore branch of the Bank of the United States.
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