Why Is Congress Too Powerful

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The founding fathers of the United States wanted to create of government so that one person or family could have too much power. They came up with a system that allowed three branches of government to rule. To prevent one branch from gaining too much power, there was a system of checks and balances. Each branch could “check” each other to limit powers. Even with the system of checks and balances there is some debate about congress being too powerful. An example of that is congress creating national banks. The Second Bank of the United States was chartered by congress after the War of 1812. It was created to help fix the huge debt the War of 1812 left. Maryland required taxes on all banks not chartered by the state. Federal cashier James McCulloch refused to pay the taxes. These events raised two questions: was it constitutional for congress to have the power to create a national bank and was it constitutional for states to tax the bank.
The War of 1812 left the United States in economic turmoil. It left the treasury in debt. Since there was no national bank, there was no way to regulate all the currency coming in from private banks, and there would be no way to …show more content…
The Constitution doesn’t explicitly say that Congress has the right to charter a bank. But Congress had to step in to fix the mess the United States was currently in. However, the Constitution does have the Necessary and Proper clause. The Necessary and proper clause gives congress the power to do anything deemed necessary and proper. Article 1, section 8, Clause 18 states that “To 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 or Officer thereof” (U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 8, cl. 18). This gave the right for Congress to charter the
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