Conflicts frequently arise between national and state governments. The federal court system plays a key
role in settling these conflicts. The Supreme Court ruled on the question of national versus state power
for the first time in the 1819 case of McCulloch v. Maryland. The Court held that the national
government is supreme in the instance of a conflict between the national government and a state
government In many rulings on this issue since McCulloch, the Court's view of the division of powers
between the national and state governments has shifted. Since the 1990s, the Court has generally favored
states power. Increasing power of federal judges allows them to serve as umpires of federalism as well,
by opening nearly every action by state and local officials to the judges' questioning.
7. What precedent did the Supreme Court set in McCulloch v. Maryland?