McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) Definition

A U.S. Supreme Court case that declared unconstitutional a Maryland law that attempted to tax bank notes issued by the Second Bank of the United States.

Among other arguments, Maryland claimed that Congress didn't have the constitutional power to create a bank. Textually, Maryland was correct: Nothing in the Constitution expressly authorizes Congress to create or charter a bank. But that, said the Court, didn't end the case.

Congress does have the power to tax and spend. U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 1. And Congress has implied powers, under U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 18, to carry out its taxing and spending powers. That clause, sometimes called the "necessary and proper" clause, provides that Congress has the power to "make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States... ." Creating a bank was a necessary and proper way for Congress to carry out its taxing and spending powers.

Maryland's attempt to tax the national bank ran afoul of the supremacy clause, U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2.