In the early nineteenth century, while John Marshall was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the decisions he made strengthened the role of the national government. These decisions also helped to lay the foundations of the country's economy. Different Supreme Court cases were able to raise the nationalistic views in people. Court cases such as McCulloch vs Maryland (1819), Dartmouth College vs Woodward (1819) and Gibbons vs Ogden (1824) were cases that displayed the need for federal government involvement and stability in order to create a basis for the nation's economy.
In 1819, the court case of McCulloch vs Maryland, the state of Maryland decided that the Second National Bank of the United States were to be taxed by them. Maryland passed a legislature that taxed the bank, however, James McCulloch refused to pay the tax given to the bank. By the refusal to pay the tax, the Supreme Court decided that Maryland could not tax the government. The Supreme Court voted in favor of McCulloch's refusal. The court declared that the taxation created by Maryland was unconstitutional. The states could not tax the federal government because it went against the constitution. The court's decision strengthened the role of the government because it displayed how the national government had more power than the individual states.The Court also ruled the Supremacy clause. This clause put the federal law above state law. It also protected the bank from being taxed by the state. The court had the power over the constitution and the laws of the states, therefore the states cannot control them (the government) and tax the bank. Along with the McCulloch vs Maryland case, the Dartmouth College vs Woodward, in the same year, strengthened the government.
In the same year, the case between Dartmouth College and Woodward also contributed to the strengthening of the federal government and economy. New Hampshire and Woodward wanted to change Dartmouth College from a private institution to a state university.