Editing McCulloch v. Maryland (section)

==Background==
[[File:Daniel Webster 1824 Signature.jpg|thumb|right|A handwritten bank draft from the Second Bank of the United States, dated July 24, 1824, from [[Daniel Webster]], who argued on behalf of McCulloh and the U.S. government in ''McCulloch v. Maryland'']]
Almost immediately after the ratification of the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] in 1788, a major public debate arose over whether to establish a [[central bank|national bank]] for the United States.{{sfnp|Nowak|Rotunda|2010|loc=§ 3.2, p. 142}} Upon [[George Washington]]'s inauguration in 1789 as the first [[President of the United States]], his [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Secretary of the Treasury]], [[Alexander Hamilton]], proposed creating a national bank to regulate American currency and deal with national economic problems.{{sfnp|Nowak|Rotunda|2010|loc=§ 3.2, p. 142}} Washington's [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], strongly opposed the bank's creation, fearing it would usurp power from the individual states and concentrate it to a dangerous degree in the central federal government.{{sfnp|Nowak|Rotunda|2010|loc=§ 3.2, p. 142}} Congress created the [[First Bank of the United States]] in 1791 with a 20-year charter, but the issue continued to be controversial. Those who supported Hamilton's vision of a stronger central government eventually formed the [[Federalist Party]], while those who opposed him and supported Jefferson's vision of a decentralized government that focused on states' rights formed the [[Democratic-Republican Party]].

The First Bank's charter expired in 1811 and was not renewed. However, national economic problems in the aftermath of the [[War of 1812]] prompted Congress to pass similar legislation in 1816 to create the [[Second Bank of the United States]].{{sfnp|Chemerinsky|2015|p=242}} The U.S. government only owned 20 percent of the bank's equity, and many state governments resented the bank for calling in loans it had made to them.{{sfnp|Chemerinsky|2015|p=242}} Consequently, some states passed laws designed to hinder the bank's operation, while others simply tried to tax it.{{sfnp|Chemerinsky|2015|p=242}} In 1818, the [[Maryland General Assembly]]—Maryland's [[State legislature (United States)|state legislature]]—passed a law levying a $15,000 annual tax on any bank operating in Maryland that was issuing notes and bills that were not properly stamped by Maryland's Treasury, the Western Shore Treasury.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2022-01-24 |title=Archives of Maryland, Volume 0636, Page 0173 - Session Laws, 1817 |url=https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000636/html/am636--173.html |access-date=2022-01-24 |website= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220124180056/https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc2900/sc2908/000001/000636/html/am636--173.html |archive-date=24 January 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[James W. McCulloh|James William McCulloh]]{{efn|The case refers to him as "McCulloch" because the court clerk misspelled his name.{{sfn|Schwartz|2019|p=46}}}}, a cashier of the Baltimore Branch of the Second Bank of the United States, issued unstamped bank notes to Baltimore resident George Williams.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2022-01-19|title=M'CULLOCH v. STATE OF MARYLAND et al. {{!}} Supreme Court {{!}} US Law {{!}} LII / Legal Information Institute|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17/316|access-date=2022-01-24|archive-date=2022-01-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119112628/https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/17/316|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref>  The lawsuit was filed by John James, an informer who sought to collect half of the fine, as provided for by the statute.<ref name=":0" /> The Bank was represented by [[Daniel Webster]]. The case was appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals, where the state of Maryland argued that "the [[Constitution of the United States|Constitution]] is silent on the subject of banks." It was Maryland's contention that without specific constitutional authorization for the [[federal government of the United States|federal government]] to create a bank, any such creation would be rendered [[unconstitutional]].

The court upheld Maryland. The case was then appealed to the Supreme Court.