what was the importance of marbury vs. madison and mcculloch vs maryland?

Question

in terms of the expansion of the power of the federal government

Answer 1

Good question. Here is a good answer.

1. Marbury v. Madison (you don't use "vs." in a Court case--you only write "v" between the litigants.) THis case established the principle of "judicial review" in which the Supreme Court can over look laws written by Congress or state legislatures and declare them unconsitutional if they feel they are. This gives the Supreme Court the final say whenever a new law is passed as to whether it will stand or fall. This power (judicial review) was used in cases like Dred Scott v. Sanford in 1857 in which the MIssouri Compromise and the Kansas-Nebraska Act were both declared unconstitution by the Supreme Court. Also in 1973 in the case of Roe v. Wade in which a Texas law prohibiting abortion was also ruled unconstitutional.

2. In McCulloch v. Maryland the Court established the principle that the Constitution has certain "implied powers" that are not explicitly laid out but are rather "implied." The power in question at that time (1819) was whether the federal government could establish a national bank. Maryland wanted to tax the local branch of the Bank of the United States but John Marshall (Chief Justice) said that a state cannot tax a federal institution (the Bank) since the "power to tax includes the power to destroy." And he felt that states (the children) cannot destroy the federal government (the parent.) Therefore STATES were shown to be subserviant to the federal government.

And there you have it.

Answer 2

Marbury v. Madison is a landmark case in United States law and the basis for the exercise of judicial review of Federal statutes by the United States Supreme Court under Article Three of the United States Constitution.

The case resulted from a petition to the Court by William Marbury, who had been appointed as Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams shortly before leaving office, but whose commission was not delivered as required by John Marshall, Adams's Secretary of State. When Thomas Jefferson assumed office, he ordered the new Secretary of State, James Madison, to withhold Marbury's and several other men's commissions. Marbury and three others petitioned the Court to force Madison to deliver the commission to Marbury. The case was ultimately unsuccessful for Marbury, who never became a Justice of the Peace in the District of Columbia.

McCulloch v. Maryland 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 3

they both made the letter M very important.