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0
Introduction
The first paragraph of your paper should be the introduction. You never get a second
chance to make a first impression. The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your
readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality
of your work. A concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off
thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper. This impression is
especially important when the audience you are trying to reach (your instructor) will be grading
your work. An introduction should tell the reader explicitly what the thesis (the point of the
paper) is. After having read the introduction, the reader should have no doubt about what the
central point of your paper is. Remember that your thesis/argument statement should be the last
one in your introduction and should answer the following question: “How does one specific
Supreme Court Case Decision (of your choice) reveals an underlying philosophy or political
theory of Enlightenment Thinkers?” Remember, you are not going to put the question, but rather
just the answer to this question as your final sentence.
Facts of the Case- Setting the Context
Remember that you must answer all the questions found within a section. For example,
in the section “Facts of the Case,” you must answer all the questions “a, b, c, d, e, f, g”. Make
sure that all the answers are in a paragraph form and that all of them are connected to each other.
Furthermore, make sure to include the proper citation when using information from the books,
articles, web primary sources, and web secondary sources, you are required to include in your
paper.
a. Introduction, what is the relationship between the Supreme Court and Enlightenment
Philosophy?
b. Where did the case originate(state/federal courts)? State the Court.
c. How many courts heard it before it reached the Supreme Court?
d. Background of Case. How did the case originate?
e. What was the social/political climate of the country at the time?
f. What is the plaintiff or appellant arguing in the Supreme Court Case?
g. What is the defendant arguing in the Supreme Court Case?
Below is an example of what this section should look like in paragraph form and with the
proper “end notes.” Please remember that since every one of you has chosen a different Supreme
Court case, your information will differed from mine. The information above is about the
Supreme Court case of McCulloch v. Maryland (which none of you chose to do; therefore, no
student at this point is allowed to use the content of the following paragraphs):
Example:
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To understand the socio-cultural context of the McCulloch v. Maryland case, must take a
look at the past. First, we must understand that the national bank was created during a time when
the new government of the American Republic was socio-politically fragile. Political figures
like Thomas Jefferson, as well as a number of state legislatures, were opposed to the
strengthening of the national government because they fear the emergence of a monarchy-like
government.1 Because the memories of living under an all absolute power (that is, living under
the rule of the King of England until 1776) were still fresh in the minds of the leading political
figures of the time, they feared an structural abuse of power. Thus, when the new American
government created a national bank with the power to print money, make loans, and engage in
other banking tasks, there was a lot of opposition to it. States like Maryland saw the creation of
the national bank as a way to assert structural control over the economy. Dissatisfied with the
new federal banking institution, the state of Maryland passed a law taxing the bank’s branch
located in Baltimore for the amount of $15,000 a year. As it turned out, the Baltimore bank
branch refused to pay the new tax. As a result, the state of Maryland sued the bank branch, and
took James McCulloch, the bank manager and representative of the bank, to court in what is
known as “McCulloch v. Maryland”.2
The case, McCulloch v. Maryland, did not get to the Supreme Court right away. Instead,
the case went through two different lower courts before getting to the deck of the Supreme
Court. The case was first heard at the County Court of Baltimore, where McCulloch was
convicted of having evaded state taxes and was fined $2,500.3 After the decision was given at
County Court of Baltimore, McCulloch, now acting as an appellant, took the case to the
Maryland Court of Appeals. However, all his efforts were in vain as the state court of appeals
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upheld the lower court’s decision. The case was then taken to the Supreme Court where the
previous lower courts’ decisions were overturned.4
The arguments brought by both parties to the Supreme Court were very complex. On one
hand, Luther Martin, representing the state of Maryland (the plaintiff), argued that the
Constitution did not give Congress the power to create a national bank; and therefore, Maryland
had the right to tax the bank.5 On the other hand, Daniel Webster, representing James
McCulloch (the defendant), argued for a broader interpretation of the Constitution because the
Constitution was not meant to stifle Congressional powers, but rather to permit Congress to use
all means “necessary and proper” to fulfill its responsibilities.6 Basically, Webster argued that
the power to create a national bank was implied in the Constitution.
Having looked at the basic facts of the case will allow us to look at the relationship
between the Supreme Court decision and enlightenment philosophy. In 1819, the chief justice of
the Supreme Court, John Marshall, delivered the unanimous opinion of the Court regarding
McCulloch v. Maryland by saying that even though,
…the constitution of the United States has not left the right of congress to employ the necessary
means, for the execution of the powers conferred on the government, to general reasoning. To its
enumeration of powers is added, that of making ‘all laws which shall be necessary and proper,
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this constitution,
in the government of the United States, or in any department thereof’...This provision is made in
a constitution, intended to endure for ages to come, and, consequently, to be adapted to the
various crises of human affairs. To have prescribed the means by which government should, in all
future time, execute its powers, would have been . . . an unwise attempt to provide . . . for
exigencies which, if foreseen at all, must have been seen dimly, and which can be best provided
for as they occur. . . .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…It is the
unanimous and decided opinion of this Court, that the act to incorporate the Bank of the United
States is . . . constitutional; and that the power of establishing a branch in the State of Maryland
might be properly exercised by the bank itself.7
3
Having found the act of Congress constitutional, the Supreme Court moved to decide over the
second matter in question, whether or not the State of Maryland had the right to tax a federal
agency. Chief Justice John Marshall continued by saying that,
There is no express provision for the case, but the claim has been sustained on a principle which
so entirely pervades the constitution. . . . This great principle is, that the constitution and the laws
made in pursuance thereof are supreme; that they control the constitution and laws of the
respective states, and cannot be controlled by them. From this . . . other propositions are deduced
as corollaries…That the power to tax involves the power to destroy…If the states may tax one
instrument, employed by the government in the execution of its powers, they may tax any and
every other instrument. They may tax the mail; they may tax the mint; they may tax patent-rights;
they may tax the papers of the custom-house; they may tax judicial process; they may tax all the
means employed by the government, to an excess which would defeat all the ends of government.
This was not intended by the American people. They did not design to make their government
dependent on the states…The result is a conviction that the states have no power, by taxation or
otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control, the operations of the
constitutional laws enacted by congress to carry into execution the powers vested in the general
government. This is, we think, the unavoidable consequence of that supremacy which the
constitution has declared. We are unanimously of opinion, that the law passed by the legislature
of Maryland, imposing a tax on the Bank of the United States, is unconstitutional and void.8
Having proclaimed the Maryland tax as unconstitutional, ultimately reasserted the Constitution
as the supreme law, and set a precedence for any other case that would arrive at the Supreme
Court’s deck dealing with states contesting federal authority for years to come. It could be
suggested that the Supreme Court, at the time that the final decision was given, was engaging
Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan. More specifically, a passage found in chapter 26 “Of Civil Laws”
where Hobbes makes clear that, “…the Commonwealth is no person, nor has capacity to do
anything but by the representative, that is the sovereign; and therefore the sovereign is the sole
legislator. For the same reason, none can abrogate a law made, but the sovereign, because a law
is not abrogated but by another law that forbiddeth it to be put in execution”.9 If we interpret the
usage of the word “Commonwealth” in this passage to mean a “republic”, we can conclude that
Hobbes was saying that the laws executed in a republic must be for the benefit of all the people
within the republic. Thus, if sub-governments, in this case the state of Maryland, were to try to
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enact new laws that would go against the benefit of all the people within the republic, then the
Supreme Law of the land, in this case the Constitution, has supremacy over any other lower
laws. Based on this interpretation, Hobbes lays down the foundational idea in support of
Federalism, which is what the Supreme Court reasserted by finding Congress’ action of creating
a national bank as Constitutional and declaring Maryland tax as unconstitutional.
Please remember that the above is just an example. You must include the pertinent information
regarding your Supreme Court case and your Enlightenment Philosopher. You must assemble
paragraphs for all of the sections that follow and have to make sure that the paragraphs are not
just answering a question, but rather connect to the other paragraphs and flow with the essay. See
the end for an example of a bibliography. Please note that when citing a quote that is longer than
(3) lines Chicago requires you to indent, single space, remove quotes and reduce font size.
(For the following sections remember that you must answer all the questions found within each
section. Make sure that all the answers are in a paragraph form and that all of them are connected
to each other. Furthermore, make sure to include the proper citation when using information
from the books, articles, web primary sources, and web secondary sources, you are required to
include in your paper.)
2. Constitutional Questiona. State the Constitutional Question. (In a question)
b. List and explain the amendment/article that pertain to it?
c. List and explain which Enlightenment theory/philosopher this case pertains to?
3. Decisiona. What was the numerical decision? (i.e. 7-2)
b. Who did they rule in favor of?
c. What was the official opinion of the Court?
4. Justification for Decisiona. Who handed down the decision and who supported it? List all Justices.
b. What is the justification for the opinion?
c. How does the decision expand or restrict the Enlightenment theory/philosophy?
5. Dissenting Opinion and Arguments- (Doesn’t apply to all cases)
a. Who dissented? List all Justices.
b. What was their argument and rationale?
c. How does their dissent expand or restrict the Enlightenment theory/philosophy?
6. Impact
a. What was the impact of this case? Small and large scale.
b. Who was affected by the case?
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c. What has changed as a result of this case?
d. How does this case reveal an underlying Enlightenment philosophy?
e. Has this case been overturned or upheld by the Court?
f. Do you agree or disagree with the final ruling? Why or why not?
g. Final thoughts and closing argument.
7. Works Citeda. Properly cited Bibliography (Chicago)
Failure to provide an adequate bibliography will result in an automatic “0.”
8. Individual Assignment Acknowledgement- failure to include this will result in an automatic
“0”
This statement must follow after your paper!!! Type your name where appropriate, your
typed name will serve as your electronic signature.
Individual Assignment Acknowledgement
I, _____________, acknowledge that I performed all of the work on my assignment alone. I used
my own words on the assignment, and did not work with anyone on the researching or writing
the assignment outside of the peer editing process and without proper authorization of the
teacher. I acknowledge that working with another, passing off another’s work as my own, or
letting others use my work will result in a grade of a “0” and disciplinary action.
X___________________________________________________________________
Since you cannot include anything else after the “End Notes,” please include the
bibliography one page after you finished your essay and one page before your “End Notes.”
See the following page for the bibliography and the page after for the “End Notes.”
Remember that your bibliography must include a minimum of 14 sources separated by
primary and secondary sources!!!
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Bibliography
PRIMARY SOURCES:
Hobbes, Thomas. Leviathan. New York: Empire Books, 2013.
McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819). In Our Documents. “McCulloch v. Maryland
(1819)”. Ourdocuments.gov. Accessed on March 13, 2013.
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=21.
SECONDARY SOURCES:
Edwards, George, Martin Wattenberg, and Robert Lineberry. Government in America: People,
Politics, and Policy. 12th Edition. New York: Pearson, 2006.
Ellis, Richard. Aggressive Nationalism: McCulloch v. Maryland and the Foundation of Federal
Authority in the Young Republic. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
Gunther, Gerald. John Marshall’s Defense of McCulloch v. Maryland. California: Stanford
University Press, 1970.
Plous, Harold and Gordon Baker. “McCulloch v. Maryland Right Principle, Wrong Case.” Stanford Law
Review 9, No. 4 (July, 1957): 710-730. www.jstor.org. Accessed on March 10, 2013.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1226645.
Street Law. “How the Case Moved Through the Court System.”
Streetlaw.org. Accessed on March 10, 2013.
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/cases/mcculloch_v_maryland.
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End Notes
1
George Edwards, Martin Wattenberg, and Robert Lineberry, Government in America: People, Politics, and Policy,
12th Ed. (New York: Pearson, 2006), 74.
2
Ibid.
3
Street Law Inc., “How the Case Moved Through the Court System,” Streelaw.org, accessed on March 13, 2013,
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark/home.
4
Ibid.
5
George Edwards, Government in America, 74.
6
Ibid.
7
McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. 316 (1819), in Our Documents, “McCulloch v. Maryland (1819),”
Ourdocuments.gov, accessed on March 13, 2013, http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=21.
8
Ibid.
9
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (New York: Empire Books, 2013), 212.
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