In Gibbons v. Ogden Marhsall firmly established the superiority of the US Constitution to all state law, where the two intersect. There was debate whether if state law was made first, if it could be considered superioir, Marshall settled this and said that all state law had to be made within the realm delegated to the states, and if it could possibly affect a federal realm, or another state's sovereignty, then the federal law was supreme. He also, in keeping with his decision in McCulloch, continued his argument and codification of ancillary powers that the constitution implicitly reserves for the National government. He admits that there are areas were the powers of the states and the powers of the nat'l government are concurrent, but again asserts nat'l dominance. He argues that if congress is not given an expansive view of its powers, we are trapped to the shortcomings of the Articles of Confederation, and that one state could in effect tax the rest of the states by restricting or taxing a good. In the Constitution he relies primarily, for textual support, on Art. 1 § 8 cl. 3 and Art. 1 § 10.
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Gibbons v. Ogden
Chief Justice Marshall's opinions had two primary effects on government:They increased the power of the Supreme Court by establishing judicial review as a check on the Legislative and Executive branches; andThey strengthened the federal government by clarifying the relationship between the federal and state governments, and supporting Congress' right to regulate certain activities.
George Gibbons Hearne died in 1932.
As a Federalist, Marshall exerted great influence over the other members of the Court to support federal supremacy over state sovereignty. The Supreme Court's decision in Gibbons used the Interstate Commerce Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 3), Article I, Section 9, and the Supremacy Clause to prevent states from subordinating the federal government to state laws.The Marshall Court consistently adhered to the nationalist definition of federal power, asserting constitutional and federal law had supremacy over state law. While many saw this as undermining state sovereignty, which is true, the Court's decisions tended to benefit the nation as a whole, whereas state statutes were designed to benefit and create income only for the individual state. For example, the ruling in Gibbons v. Ogden ended local and state regulations impeding interstate commerce, which had resulted in a form of protectionism for each state, and inhibited the growth of a national economy.This case rested on interpretation of enumerated powers and their application.Case Citation:Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 US 1 (1824)
As a Federalist, Marshall exerted great influence over the other members of the Court to support federal supremacy over state sovereignty. The Supreme Court's decisions in the named cases prevented the states from subordinating the federal government to state laws. Some of these cases rested on the implied powers of Congress, rather than the enumerated powers; others rested on interpretation of enumerated powers, such as the Interstate Commerce Clause and its application. In these cases, the Supreme Court's decisions set a precedent allowing the Legislative Branch to exercise "implied powers," in addition to the expressed powers listed in Article I of the Constitution. Both cases exercised the interstate commerce clause of Article I, and both relied on the Article VI Supremacy Clause. Chief Justice John Marshall's opinions transferred some of the power traditionally held by the states to the Federal government.