Gibbons v. Ogden

1. John Lukaszczyk Gibbons v. Ogden

2. Who was involved? • Thomas Gibbons (Appellant) • William Wirt and Daniel Webster were his attorneys • Aaron Ogden (Respondent) • Thomas Addis Emmet and Thomas J. Oakley were his attorneys • John Marshall’s court heard the case • The other justices were Washington, Johnson, Todd, Duvall, Story, and Thompson

3. What happened? • Gibbons was running a ferry service in interstate waters • Ogden got New York state to mandate that Gibbons was not allowed to use NY waters • Gibbon’s sanction came from Congress, so he sued Ogden, as his sanction came from a higher power than NY • Ogden argued that, since navigation is not trade, and therefore not interstate trade, Congress could not regulate it, but NY could

4. The Decision… • Gibbons won • Due to the Supremacy Clause, Congress’ law overpowered and invalidated New York’s law • The Commerce Clause was expanded by Marshall to include “navigation” as part of “commerce”

5. What is the importance? • This was the first time that the Commerce Clause was used in a Supreme Court decision • This decision began the use of a broad interpretation of interstate commerce for the Supreme Court • This is an example of a time when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of federal over state government