"Let the end be legitimate, let it be within the scope of the constitution, and all means which are appropriate, which are plainly adapted to that end, which are not prohibited, but consist with the letter and spirit of the constitution, are constitutional. The power to tax involves the power to destroy." — Chief Justice John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland, 1819
The opinion responded most directly to which immediate political controversy of the era?
- Acheck_circle
Maryland's attempt to tax the Second Bank of the United States
- B
Georgia's seizure of Cherokee lands
- C
South Carolina's nullification of the Tariff of 1828
- D
New York's monopoly grant on steam navigation
Explanation
The case arose when Maryland tried to tax the Baltimore branch of the Second Bank. Nullification, Cherokee removal, and Gibbons v. Ogden's steamboat dispute all came later or in different cases.