Early Supreme Court cases that shaped federal power

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to C on Worcester and its result (the excerpt is exact; the summaries are in our words). Card A, "Marshall on the Indian nations". Who made it: Chief Justice John Marshall, writing the opinion of the Supreme Court. When: 1832. For whom: the parties, other courts and the public. Why: to explain and justify the Court's decision. Excerpt (Worcester v. Georgia, opinion of the Court): "The Indian nations had always been considered as distinct, independent political communities, retaining their original natural rights, as the undisputed possessors of the soil, from time immemorial [beyond memory], with the single exception of that imposed by irresistible power, which excluded them from intercourse with any other European potentate [ruler] than the first discoverer of the coast of the particular region claimed: and this was a restriction which those European potentates [rulers] imposed on themselves, as well as on the Indians." Card B, "Worcester: the ruling and the result". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Court ruled for Samuel Worcester in 1832 and said Georgia's laws had no force in Cherokee territory. Georgia did not obey, and President Andrew Jackson did not enforce the ruling. Worcester was freed in January 1833. A small group of Cherokee leaders signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, and most of the Cherokee Nation opposed it. Removal began in 1838 and ended in 1839. The Cherokee Nation today is a sovereign government based in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, which calls itself the sovereign government of the Cherokee people. Card C, "A famous line about Jackson". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: A line often credited to President Jackson says that Chief Justice Marshall had made his decision, so Marshall could now enforce it himself. A university historian writing in the New Georgia Encyclopedia notes that the line is widely quoted, but that the words in Jackson's own letter to General John Coffee were different. In that letter Jackson wrote that the Court could not make Georgia obey.

2. 1.

   Ari sets the dates in card B beside Marshall's words in card A. What do the six years from ruling to removal show?

   • The delay shows the treaty came first, since the Treaty of New Echota was signed before the Court gave its opinion
   • Six years passed with no enforcement, so the Court's words alone did not decide what happened to the Nation
   • The delay shows Jackson planned removal in 1832, since removal began after he had left office in 1837
   • The delay shows the ruling was meant to be a warning, since removal was delayed until the Nation had time to leave
3. 2.

   One reading says Worcester failed because it was not enforced. Another says it mattered because it stated the Nation's status. How does Esme weigh them against cards A and B?

   • The failure reading wins, since removal began six years later and so the opinion changed nothing for the Nation
   • The status reading wins, since card B says the Nation is a sovereign government today because of this opinion
   • Both fit: removal followed the ruling, yet the opinion calls the Nation a distinct community
   • They are one reading, since a ruling that was not enforced also stated no status that anyone could later rely on
4. 3.

   Jun wants to test the claim that Jackson's choice not to enforce Worcester caused the removal. Which added evidence would help most?

   • More summaries of the 1835 treaty and the 1838 removal, restating the sequence of events already on card B
   • The opinion's full text on the Cherokee Nation's territory, to see whether Marshall expected the ruling to be enforced
   • Records of what Jackson, Georgia and Cherokee leaders decided between 1832 and 1838, including orders and treaty talks
   • A newspaper account of Worcester's release in January 1833, to see how the President was said to have reacted

5. Use this

   Cards A to D on McCulloch (the summary is in our words; the cases and the readings are written for this sheet). Card A, "McCulloch: the ruling". Who made it: historians and government agencies writing today. When: today. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what is known. Summary in our words, not a quotation: The Court said Congress could set up the national bank, because the Constitution lets Congress make laws that are necessary and proper to carry out its listed powers. It also said Maryland could not tax the bank, because national law is supreme over a state's law. The opinion added that a power to tax is a power that could be used to destroy. Card B, "Case one (made up)" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): In 1830 a state taxes the local office of the national bank that Congress chartered, at a high rate. Card C, "Case two (made up)" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): In 1830 a state taxes a bank that the state itself chartered, at the same rate as other businesses in the state. Card D, "Two readings of McCulloch" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): Reading one: McCulloch mainly expanded the power of Congress. Reading two: McCulloch mainly protected a national institution from a state tax.

6. 4.

   Kira applies McCulloch (card A) to case one (card B) and case two (card C). Which pair of results follows?

   • Both taxes stand, since the Court held that each state may tax the businesses inside its borders at one rate
   • Case one's tax stands and case two's fails, since national law is supreme over a bank chartered by a state
   • Both taxes fail, since card A says a power to tax is a power to destroy and so a state may not tax any bank
   • Case one's tax fails, since the bank is Congress's creation; case two is not settled by card A
7. 5.

   A classmate says, "McCulloch means Congress can do anything it wants." Which objection is strongest for Luz?

   • The classmate is right, since the Court let Congress create a bank that the Constitution does not name anywhere
   • The classmate is wrong, since the Court held that Congress may charter a bank just if the states agree to it
   • The classmate is wrong, since the Court shielded the bank from the tax but left Congress's power to create it open
   • Card A ties the bank to laws necessary and proper for Congress's listed powers, narrower than anything it wants
8. 6.

   Card D gives two readings of McCulloch. How should Milo weigh them against card A?

   • Reading one is right, since the bank was created by Congress and the case turned on that power alone
   • The readings say the same, since a decision that helps Congress also shields the bank from a state tax
   • Card A has two holdings, Congress's power and the bank's shield from the tax, so each reading fits one
   • Reading two is right, since the tax question was the reason the case reached the Court in the first place

9. Use this

   Cards A to D on three rules (the rules are in our words; the cases and the readings are written for this sheet). Card A, "Three rules, in brief" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): Rule one (Marbury, 1803): when a law clashes with the Constitution, the Court treats it as void. Rule two (Gibbons, 1824): when a federal law on commerce clashes with a state's law, the federal law wins. The Court next declared a law of Congress unconstitutional in 1857. Card B, "Case one (made up)" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): In 1830 a state gives one company the sole right to run ferries between that state and its neighbor. A federal law licenses boats that carry people and goods between the two states, and a boat owner holds a federal license. Card C, "Case two (made up)" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): Suppose Congress passes a law letting a person ask the Supreme Court directly to hear a kind of case that the Constitution does not list among the Court's first-hearing cases. Card D, "Two readings of Marbury" (written for this sheet, in our words, not a quotation): Reading one: Marbury was a victory for the Court, because the Court claimed the power to void a law. Reading two: Marbury was a retreat, because the Court refused to order Madison to act and Marbury lost.

10. 7.

    Pia applies rule two to case one in card B: a state gives one company the sole ferry right, and a boat owner holds a federal license. Who prevails?

    • The state law wins, since ferries between two states are not commerce among the states but local transport
    • The boat owner with the federal license prevails, since federal commerce law wins where it clashes with the state's law
    • The company with the sole right prevails, since the ferries cross the state's own waters and the state may grant rights there
    • The boat owner prevails on any subject, since federal law beats state law whatever the matter in dispute
11. 8.

    A classmate says the Court must hear case two in card C, since Congress passed a law asking it to. Which objection is strongest for Ren?

    • Rule one: a law adding a first-hearing case the Constitution does not list clashes with it and is void
    • Rule one covers commissions given by a President and does not reach laws that Congress passes about the Court
    • The law is void just if the Court decides the case on its merits, so the Court must first hear the case
    • Congress cannot pass any law about the Court's cases, since the Court controls its own cases under rule one
12. 9.

    Card D gives two readings of Marbury. How should Tala weigh them against card A?

    • Each fits part of the evidence: the Court claimed the power to void a law, and it refused the order Marbury wanted
    • They are one reading, since a Court that voids a law has also refused to order an official to act
    • Reading two is right, since Marbury lost and a party that loses cannot be said to have helped the Court in any way
    • Reading one is right, since the Court next used the power in 1857, which shows the claim was a lasting victory
13. 10.

    Zee wants to test the claim that Marbury made judicial review a regular tool of the Court. Which added evidence would help most?

    • A count of cases before 1857 in which the Court weighed a law of Congress against the Constitution
    • The text of the Judiciary Act of 1789, which the Court found clashed with the Constitution in Marbury
    • More summaries of Marbury's three steps, stated in different words from the earlier summary
    • One case from 1810 in which the Court mentioned Marbury in passing and cited its rule briefly