operty right holders against popular pressures and clarified the meanings of grants and contracts for future rulings. Marshall’s next case was one of the most important during his term, as it has remained lucid ever since. McColloch v. Maryland was the first case in which a state attempted to assert authority over the federal government. In 1819, the state of Maryland attempted to abolish a branch of the Bank of the United States by imposing taxes on its notes. The final ruling declared that the bank was constitutional by invoking the Hamilton Doctrine of Implied Powers. In ruling this, the power given to the federal government was made distinct and in doing so, the power of the Supreme Court was clarified as well. The consequence of McColloch v. Maryland would continue to last and kept states at bay at challenging the federal government. Five years later, a case with a similar ruling came about. In the case Gibbons v. Ogden, the state of New York attempted to grant a monopoly on water commerce between New York and New Jersey to a private company. However, Marshall pointed out that the Constitution stated that only Congress could control interstate commerce. This established that federal contracts were superior to state contracts and once again, avowed that the federal government was above the states. Some of the most significant ideas that John Marshall introduced were that of the system of checks and balances and the single-opinion. The system of checks and balances was helpful to the Supreme Court because it allowed all branches of government to check on each other to make sure they were carrying out their job correctly. This was one of the final enhancements towards making the Supreme Court equal to the legislative and executive branches and gained credibility among them. The single-opinion was more significant exclusively to the Supreme Court in that Marshall stated that there should be a majority opi...
