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Difficulty: EasyThe Marshall Court and Judicial Nationalism

Read the excerpt below.

"If any one proposition could command the universal assent of mankind, we might expect it would be this: that the government of the Union, though limited in its powers, is supreme within its sphere of action."
— Chief Justice John Marshall, majority opinion in *McCulloch v. Maryland* (1819)

Which of the following principles of federalism is most directly supported by the excerpt above?

  1. A
    State governments possess the constitutional authority to nullify federal laws within their borders.
  2. The federal government has supreme authority over the states when acting within its constitutional limits.Answer
  3. C
    The federal government's authority is strictly confined to the powers explicitly enumerated in the Constitution.
  4. D
    The Constitution established a league of sovereign states where national laws require state approval.

Answer

The federal government has supreme authority over the states when acting within its constitutional limits.
The excerpt asserts that the national government, though possessing limited powers, is 'supreme within its sphere of action.' This directly supports the principle of national supremacy, establishing that valid federal laws take precedence over conflicting state laws.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the source and author of the excerpt.
The text is from Chief Justice John Marshall in the *McCulloch v. Maryland* ruling of 1819.
Establishing the context allows us to link the quote to Marshall's broader jurisprudence on federal power.
2
Analyze the central argument of the text.
Marshall asserts that while the federal government is limited by the Constitution, it is supreme within its constitutional sphere of action.
Understanding the logic of the quote leads directly to the core constitutional principle being asserted.
3
Connect Marshall's argument to the core constitutional principle.
The argument directly supports the principle of national supremacy over state laws, a hallmark of judicial nationalism.
This confirms that the federal government holds supreme authority when acting within its constitutional boundaries, ruling out state supremacy or nullification.

Key Concept

Judicial Nationalism and Federal Supremacy
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Topics

The Marshall Court and Judicial Nationalism

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