The power of the federal government to exercise broad powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause was affirmed in which case?

• A. McCulloch v. Maryland
• B. Dred Scott v. Sandford
• C. Plessy v. Ferguson
• D. Korematsu v. United States

Answer: (A)

Understanding how the Necessary and Proper Clause allows Congress to use implied powers to carry out its enumerated powers. This idea was affirmed in the case McCulloch v. Maryland, where the Supreme Court ruled that Congress has powers beyond those explicitly listed in the Constitution if they are necessary and proper to execute its enumerated powers. The decision also established that a national bank is constitutional because it helps Congress finance and regulate the economy, and it reinforced federal supremacy by declaring that states cannot tax or impede the federal government’s operations. The other cases involve different legal questions—citizenship and slavery in one, racial segregation in another, and wartime civil liberties in the last—and none of them address the breadth of federal power under the Necessary and Proper Clause.