3. How did the XYZ Affair get its name?

After some members of Congress asked to see the diplomats' reports regarding what had transpired in France, Adams handed them over with the names of the French agents replaced with the letters X, Y and Z; thus the name XYZ Affair.

The XYZ got it's name from the three French men. These men were code named X, Y, and Z. These were the men that the Americans visited to attempt to have a conversation with them, but were sent away because they refused to pay the bribe.

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.