McCulloch v. Maryland (1819): Federal Supremacy Over State Taxation

In McCulloch v. Maryland (1819), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Maryland could not tax the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank of the United States. Chief Justice John Marshall held that:

1. The federal government had implied power under the Necessary and Proper Clause to create a national bank.
2. State laws cannot impede valid federal institutions—federal law is supreme (Supremacy Clause, Article VI).
3. "The power to tax involves the power to destroy"; allowing states to tax federal entities would undermine national sovereignty.

This landmark decision established the principle of federal supremacy and broadly interpreted Congress's implied powers.