Marshall Court rules in Dartmouth College v. Woodward and McCulloch v. Maryland

Background. Chief Justice John Marshall, who served from 1801 to 1835, led the Court in these cases. The Court met in Washington only two months a year, from the first Monday in February through the second or third week in March. The Marshall Court had first convened in 1801 in the Supreme Court Chamber of the Capitol Building, and under Marshall it adopted the practice of handing down a single majority opinion, allowing it to present a clear rule.

Dartmouth College v. Woodward. The case concerned the application of the Contracts Clause to private corporations. The Supreme Court upheld the sanctity of Dartmouth's original charter, which predated the state's creation. The decision invalidated the New Hampshire Legislature's act, allowing Dartmouth to remain a private institution and recover its buildings, seal, and charter.

McCulloch v. Maryland. The dispute involved the legality of the Second Bank of the United States and a Maryland tax. In 1818, Maryland levied a $15,000 annual tax on unstamped bank notes. The Court ruled the Bank constitutional and held that states could not tax federal institutions, asserting that the power to tax is the power to destroy.