In what way might a historian use a source like the one above?

montesquieu took the view that the roman republic had powers separated so that no one could usurp complete power. in the british constitutional system, montesquieu discerned a separation of powers among the monarch, parliament, and the courts of law.

both are true, the congress does have the power to create banks, even if this power is not specifically described in the constitution, since there is nothing restricting it and there is power given to the congress to make "all laws which shall be necessary and proper". maryland was not allowed to tax a branch of the national bank operating there, and the supreme court decided that no state could. both of these topics were discussed in a decision of the mcculloch v. maryland case in 1819.