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The case of Gibbons v. Ogden involved a dispute over who had the right to transport passengers on steamboats between New York and New Jersey.
Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
The Meaning of the Commerce Clause
The Congress shall have Power... To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes. —Commerce Clause, Article I, Section 8, U.S. Constitution
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n 1808, the state of New York granted a monopoly to operate steamboats on the state’s waters, includ- ing the waters between New York and its neighboring states. The federal government, however, had issued a federal coasting license to Thomas Gibbons. This license allowed him to operate steamboats between the states of New York and New Jersey. The federal license conflicted with the license held by Aaron Ogden under the New York monopoly. Ogden filed a complaint asking the New York Court of Chancery to shut down Gibbons’ operation between New York and New Jersey. The Court of Chancery found in favor of Ogden. It issued an injunction forcing Gibbons to stop oper- ating his steamboats in the waters between New York and New Jersey. Gibbons appealed the case to the Court of Errors of New York. The Court of Errors affirmed the lower court decision. Gibbons then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
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intercourse.” Therefore, although the ferry was only carrying passengers instead of commercial goods, it was still involved in commerce. This broad definition has helped justify subsequent congressional acts that may seem outside the tra- ditional view of commerce. Marshall went on to define the phrase “among the several states.” He concluded that commerce among the states meant anything that was not fully contained within a single state. That meant the federal government could regulate any good unless it was entirely made, sold, and used within one state. Therefore, regulation could extend to the interior of the state and was not confined to transactions at the state’s borders. Next, Marshall’s decision dealt with whether Congress shared the power to regulate interstate commerce with the states. Marshall concluded that the framers of the Constitution intended Congress to establish uniform regulation of trade. Therefore, the states did not share the power to regulate interstate commerce. Marshall noted that the only limits to the congressional power to regulate commerce are those prescribed by the Constitution itself. The primary motive of Marshall’s decision was to establish the Constitution as a functional doc- ument. He believed that strictly interpreting the powers vested in Congress would make the Constitution “unfit for use.” Marshall could have written a brief decision holding for Gibbons and allowing him to operate his steamboats. Instead, he took this opportunity to broadly define the powers of Congress and ultimately vest the feder- al government with the ability to create a strong and efficient economy. Marshall’s ability to fore- see the benefits of an economy centrally con- trolled by the Congress rather than by the com- peting economic policies of the states is one of the most enduring principles from his time on the Supreme Court.
The case involved the meaning of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Found in Article I, Section 8, the clause reads: The Congress shall have Power... To regu- late Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.
The first government of the United States did not give Congress this power. Created by the Articles of Confederation during the American Revolution, the articles severely limited the power of the central government. The power to regulate trade was left to the individual states. This grant of power to the states led to confusion and prob- lems in transactions between states and with other nations. These problems, among others, led to the drafting of the Constitution. Ogden’s attorney made two arguments. First, he argued that the Constitution’s commerce clause did not give Congress exclusive power over inter- state commerce. He contended that states also had this power. He pointed out the federal and the state governments shared powers in many areas, such as the ability to levy taxes. Second, Odgen’s attorney argued that Congress did not have power under the commerce clause to regulate Gibbons’ boats because he was not engaged in commerce. He was transporting pas- sengers, not goods or “trade.”
The Supreme Court’s Decision
Chief Justice John Marshall delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court. His decision rejected Ogden’s arguments and ruled in favor of Gibbons. Marshall’s opinion effectively spoke on the greater issue of Congress’ power over the national economy. First, he addressed Odgen’s argument that he was not engaged in commerce. Marshall defined the term “commerce” as used in the Constitution. He found that commerce includes navigation because that is the common understanding of the word. He went on to state that commerce encompasses anything that is “commercial
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(1937), the court upheld the National Labor Relations Act, which granted employees the right to organize and collectively bargain. This historic case later came to be known as “the switch in time that saved nine,” referring to the number of justices sitting on the Supreme Court. (After this decision, Roosevelt’s court-packing legislation died in the Senate.) The decision noted that laws protecting employees had proven to have positive results on interstate commerce. The court con- cluded that even activities “intrastate in character when separately considered” may be regulated “if they have such a close and substantial relation to interstate commerce that their control is essential or appropriate to protect that commerce from burdens and obstructions... .” After this decision, the Supreme Court contin- ued to take an expansive view of the commerce clause. Congress often used the commerce clause as a basis for important social initiatives. For example, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was based on the commerce clause. The act prohibited
The legislative program of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, U.S. president from 1933–1945, depended on an expansive view of the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause.
businesses from discriminating against customers on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The law was challenged and brought before the Supreme Court in Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. (1964). A unanimous court upheld the law. (Two justices filed concurring opinions.) The court connected a hotel serving primarily local customers to interstate commerce by emphasizing the role hotels have in allowing people to be mobile and travel across state lines. The court further cited the hotel’s advertisements in other locations as evidence of its place outside the local community. The court acknowledged that Congress was primarily addressing a moral issue with the statute, but evidence also showed that interstate commerce was disrupted by dis- criminatory policies practiced by hotels. In Katzenbach v. McClung (1964), the court further expanded the scope of interstate commerce. It upheld applying the Civil Rights Act to a local restaurant because it served food previously transported over state lines. The court pointed out that the business of this single restaurant may not significantly impact interstate com- merce, but the court stated that the impact of all restaurants in similar circumstances had to be considered. These and other cases seemed to indicate the Supreme Court’s full support of the increasing congressional authority claimed under the com- merce clause. No major challenges were heard by the court until 1995. By that time, however, another political shift had occurred. In two major decisions, a 5–4 court majority signaled a movement toward a more restrictive interpreta- tion of the commerce clause. First, in U.S. v. Lopez (1995), the court struck down the Gun-Free School Zones Act. This law imposed strict penal- ties for possession of firearms within 1,000 feet of a school zone. The court stated that Congress only had the power to regulate three broad areas: (1) the channels of interstate commerce, (2) the instrumentalities of interstate commerce or per- sons and things in interstate commerce, and (3) activities with a substantial relation to or that substantially affect interstate commerce. The
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A C T I V I T Y
Revisiting Commerce Cases
Imagine that you are members of John Marshall’s Supreme Court, and you are going to decide one of the commerce clause cases decided by subse- quent courts. Your teacher will assign your group one (or more) of the cases below: a. U.S. v. E.C. Knight Company b. Hammer v. Dagenhart c. Schechter Poultry v. U.S. d. Carter v. Carter Coal Co. e. NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. f. Heart of Atlanta Motel v. U.S. g. Katzenbach v. McClung h. U.S. v. Lopez i. U.S. v. Morrison As a group, do the following:
- Read and discuss the commerce clause and the Gibbons v. Ogden decision described in the article. You will base your decision in the other case on this decision.
- Read and discuss your assigned case.
- Decide this case on the principles announced in Gibbons v. Ogden.
- Discuss and decide what you think the decision of the court should have been in this case.
- Be prepared to announce your decisions and your reasons for them to the whole class.
court further clarified its position in U.S. v. Morrison (2000) by holding the Violence Against Women Act, establishing civil remedies for vic- tims of gender-motivated crime, unconstitutional. Chief Justice Rehnquist writing for the majority stated that for Congress to regulate an intrastate activity, it must be economic in nature. He argued that if this type of statute were allowed, then Congress could regulate any crime as long as the national impact of the crime substantially affected employment, production, transit, or consumption.
- • • • • The commerce clause grants power to Congress to regulate many aspects of the national econo- my. This power is checked by the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Beginning with the landmark Gibbons v. Ogden decision, the court has struggled to balance the interests of the federal system of government with the desire of Congress to enact nationwide solutions to both economic and social challenges faced by the country. In some eras, the court has taken an expansive view of the commerce clause. In others, it has taken a more restrictive view.
For Discussion
- How is the Constitution’s commerce clause different from the power given by the Articles of Confederation? Why do you think the framers of the Constitution made it differ- ent?
- What were the facts of the case in Gibbons v. Ogden? What two arguments did Ogden’s attorney make in the case? What was the deci- sion of the Supreme Court? What were the court’s reasons for its decision?
- The Supreme Court in Gibbons v. Ogden gave an expansive reading of the commerce clause. Other courts have given it a more restrictive reading. Why do you think this has hap- pened? Which reading do you think is cor- rect? Why?
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