Lesson 13: Defining Constitutional Powers—The Early Years
In this lesson, we will talk about two landmark cases that
helped define the powers of the federal government – McCulloch v. Maryland, and
Gibbons v. Ogden. We will then look at how states rights were the root cause of
the Civil War and go back and see how the shift back to States’ rights occurred
during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. Finally, we will discuss how the Civil War
actually ended up increasing federal power and resulted in three new amendments
to the Constitution.
When Congress chartered the First and
Second Banks of the United States, one branch was in
Baltimore, Maryland. In order to
run it out business, Maryland imposed taxes on it.
When the bank refused to pay the tax, Maryland took them to court and
won. So, the national government took the case to the Supreme Court.
John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court who favored a strong
national government. His interpretation of the Necessary and Proper Clause was
that the national government could charter a bank if it was necessary to carry
out its designated powers.
It then followed that Maryland could not tax the national bank because that
goes against establishing the Constitution and the Federal government as the
Supreme Law of the land.
Another challenge for the Supreme Court arose five years later in 1824. It all
began when Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston thought they had a monopoly in
New York waters handed to them by the state of New York. They gave Aaron Ogden
the license to operate his steam-powered ferryboats from New York to New Jersey.
But, another businessman, Thomas Gibbons, had a license granted by the U.S.
Government and competed directly against Aaron Ogden until he was sued. New
York ruled in favor of Ogden, but Gibbons took it to the Supreme Court.
That is when the Commerce Clause came into question,
which is the section of the Constitution in
which Congress has the power to
regulate trade among the states and with foreign countries.
Chief Justice Marshall now had a new set of issues to face.
The first issue was that he had to define the term commerce.
Then,
he had to determine the national government's reach in
regulating interstate commerce.
Finally,
he had to decide if the power to
regulate interstate commerce was a concurrent power or a power of the national
government alone.
As expected, Chief Justice Marshall stuck to his Federalist stance.
He ruled that
commerce meant all commercial interactions -- not just the interchange of
commodities, but also services such as the transport of people.
The national government could exercise its power to
regulate interstate commerce in state jurisdictions.
Therefore,
the power to
regulate interstate commerce was a national government power. Gibbons could not
be prohibited from operating in New York waters.
The issue of slavery began before the Constitution was ratified. There was
opposition to the slave trade, but the Southern states were determined not to
give it up.
Even though the slave trade was the controversy that led to the Civil War,
the dispute became more about whether or not the national government had
supremacy over the states.
Under the presidency of Andrew Jackson from
1829 to 1837, known as the Jacksonian era, the states started to question the
supremacy of the national government. One issue in particular came up when
Congress passed a protective tariff that the South referred to as the "Tariff
of Abominations."
South Carolina took the stance that the states had ultimate authority in
conflicts between them and the national government. This and other conflicts
eventually led to South Carolina taking back its ratification of the
Constitution. It withdrew from the Union on December 20th, 1860.
Six southern states formed the Confederate States of America on February 4th,
1861. The Civil War broke out in April of that year.
It was over in 1865 and
the South found out that
they did NOT have the ultimate authority over the national government, nor did
they have the right to withdraw from the Union. In their attempt to increase
State power, they actually made the national government more powerful.
The power of the national government over the states was made very clear in
the Civil War Amendments also known as the Reconstruction Amendments.
The 13th Amendment established that
neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall exist within the United
States.
The 14th Amendment stated that all persons born or naturalized in
the United States...are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein
they reside.
The 15th Amendment established that
the right of citizens of the United States to
vote shall not be denied...on account of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude.