A FEDERAL TAKE ON TRADE

GIBBONS V. OGDEN 22 U.S. 1 (1824) INTERSTATE COMMERCE CLAUSE

At 1 p.m. on August 17, 1807, a 150-foot vessel’s crew cast off from a dock near Greenwich Village on Manhattan Island, changing the course of American history. Two 15-foot steam-driven side wheels powered the ship to and from Albany on the Hudson River. The steamship’s introduction made feasible rapid, reliable transport of raw materials and finished goods, ushering in the industrial revolution.

States saw in the and its maiden voyage a path to prosperity if they could offer steamship routes on waters within their borders. Some states were encouraging private road building by granting exclusive franchises empowering holders to charge regulated tolls. Doing