What was the importance of Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v.Maryland in terms of the expansion of the power?

Question

What was the importance of Marbury v. Madison and McCulloch v.Maryland in terms of the expansion of the power of federal government?

Answer 1

The critical importance of Marbury is the assumption of several powers by the Supreme Court. One was the authority to declare acts of Congress, and by implication acts of the president, unconstitutional if they exceeded the powers granted by the Constitution. But even more important, the Court became the arbiter of the Constitution, the final authority on what the document meant. As such, the Supreme Court became in fact as well as in theory an equal partner in government, and it has played that role ever since.

The Court would not declare another act of Congress unconstitutional until 1857, and it has used that power sparingly. But through its role as arbiter of the Constitution, it has, especially in the twentieth century, been the chief agency for the expansion of individual rights
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McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819), was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision.

In this case, the state of Maryland attempted to impede operation of a branch of the Second Bank of the United States by imposing a tax on all notes of banks not chartered in Maryland. Though the law, by its language, was generally applicable, the U.S. Bank was the only out-of-state bank then existing in Maryland, and the law is generally recognized as specifically targeting the U.S. Bank. The Court invoked the Elastic Clause in the Constitution, which allowed the Federal government to pass laws not expressly provided for in the Constitution's list of express powers as long as those laws are in useful furtherance of the express powers.

This fundamental case established the following two principles:

that the Constitution grants to Congress implied powers for implementing the Constitution's express powers, in order to create a functional national government, and
that state action may not impede valid constitutional exercises of power by the Federal government.
The opinion was written by Chief Justice John Marshall, a man whose many judicial opinions have shaped modern constitutional law.

Answer 2

Marbury v. Madison sets up the process of judicial revue. McCulloch v. Maryland basically told the state governments that the federal government was more powerful and more important.