Which case upheld the power of the national government and denied the right of a state to tax the federal bank, relying on the Supremacy Clause?

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

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is federal supremacy and the use of implied powers under the Supremacy Clause. The Supremacy Clause makes federal law the supreme law of the land, so national actions take precedence over conflicting state laws.

In McCulloch v. Maryland, Maryland tried to tax a branch of the Bank of the United States, a federal institution. The Court held that Congress may create a national bank even though the Constitution doesn’t spell out that exact power, because it’s a reasonable means to carry out its enumerated fiscal powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause. Allowing a state to tax the federal bank would effectively destroy a federal instrument and obstruct the federal government’s operations, which the Supremacy Clause forbids. So the federal government’s authority to establish and operate the bank stands, and Maryland’s tax attempt is unconstitutional.

Other cases deal with different issues—slavery and citizenship, racial segregation, and wartime civil liberties—and don’t hinge on the same federal-versus-state supremacy principle demonstrated here.